As early as Monday morning, President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to ban new offshore oil and gas development across 625 million acres (250 million hectares) of US coastal territory, according to Bloomberg sources. The move comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and could complicate his "Drill, Baby, Drill" policies aimed at boosting domestic fossil fuel production and reversing the de-growth climate policies implemented by radical Democrats.
Bloomberg sources said the executive order prohibits the sale of new drilling rights across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Simultaneously, Biden will allow new oil and NatGas leasing in the central and western portions of the Gulf of Mexico.
Biden's decision relies on a provision of the 72-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. This allows the president to withdraw federal waters from future oil and gas leasing. Section 12(a) OCSLA does not include language that would allow any future presidents to reverse the ban.