U.S. President Biden has banned offshore drilling of 625 million acres of U.S. coastline in the final weeks of his presidency. The ban protects ocean areas along both Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea.
President Biden used the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, passed in 1953, that grants the U.S. president authority to “withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf.”
“My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs. It is not worth the risks,” the president said in his remarks. “As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.”
He continued “We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy, or between keeping our ocean healthy, our coastlines resilient, and the food they produce secure and keeping energy prices low. Those are false choices. Protecting America’s coasts and ocean is the right thing to do, and will help communities and the economy to flourish for generations to come.”
Donald Trump has vowed to overturn the withdrawal of the areas when he takes office, but such a reversal requires an act of Congress.
“Preventing the expansion of future oil development off our coasts will help meet our climate goals and safeguard communities,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, League of Conservation Voters. “With today’s announcement, President Biden has protected more of our lands and waters than any other U.S. president in history, more than 679 million acres of lands, waters, and oceans across the country.”
