Biden bans further offshore oil drilling before Trump arrives

Biden administration officials have been considering this approach for more than two years, although efforts intensified after Trump’s victory, as the outgoing president sought to enshrine new environmental measures before the end of his term. The new marine protections are consistent with Biden’s recent actions to protect areas from industrial mining and energy development, including a formal proposal issued Monday to thwart the sale of new oil, gas and geothermal leases in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.

This move would increase Biden’s goodwill regarding the environment, and deepen his record of prioritizing environmental conservation and combating climate change while in office. Biden is already on track to protect more American lands and waters than any other president, even as he faces growing calls to expand that record with new national monuments protecting culturally significant lands in California. By contrast, Trump has pledged to unleash domestic oil and gas production while rolling back environmental regulations that limit their consumption.

The full scope of Biden’s upcoming maritime protections was not clear Thursday, but the designation is set to include waters considered critical for coastal resiliency, and the efforts are supposed to be targeted, people familiar with the decision said. Democrats in Congress and dozens of environmental groups have urged Biden to make a sweeping announcement, though some recent deliberations have focused on parts of the Pacific Ocean near California and the waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico next to Florida.

The announcement will not affect drilling work and other activities related to existing lease contracts.

Trump challenge

Trump is expected to order a rollback of the protections, but it is not clear he will succeed. During his first term in office, Trump sought to overturn former President Barack Obama’s order protecting more than 125 million acres (50.6 million hectares) of the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, but the move was rejected by a federal district court in 2019.

Trump himself has in fact used the same law to block oil and gas leasing in waters near Florida and along the southeastern United States in an attempt to appeal to voters in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign.

Supporters of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which governs offshore oil and gas development, point out that Congress included a provision giving presidents broad discretion to permanently protect waters from leasing, but did not explicitly give them the power to reverse those designations.

For decades, presidents have invoked the opt-out clause to preserve walrus feeding grounds, U.S. Arctic waters and other sensitive marine resources, starting with former President Dwight Eisenhower, who in 1960 established the still-protected Key Largo Reef Sanctuary. Until today. Former President George H.W. Bush also used this clause to ban oil leasing along the West Coast, northeastern United States, and southern Florida for ten years.

Although presidents have modified decisions made by their predecessors to exempt regions from oil leasing, courts have never certified a full rollback — and until Trump, no president has tried to do so.

Industry reaction

Conservationists said the move allows the United States to meet its future energy needs without endangering areas important to national security, coastal communities and marine life.

“President Biden has a historic opportunity to build on the legacy of previous Democratic and Republican presidents who protected our coasts from new offshore drilling,” said Joseph Gordon, campaign director at the advocacy group Oceana. “Our coasts are home to millions of Americans and support billions of dollars in economic activity that depends on healthy coastlines, abundant wildlife, and thriving fisheries.”

Biden has already curtailed opportunities for new offshore oil and gas development using measures that may be less permanent. His administration designed an offshore lease sale program that would allow only three auctions over the next five years, a record low. However, Trump is expected to rewrite that leasing plan using an administrative process that could take at least a year, and Republican lawmakers are considering requiring more offshore oil lease sales as a way to raise revenue to offset the cost of extending the tax cuts.

Oil industry advocates have warned against new restrictions, saying the world will need fossil fuels for decades to come — and the United States produces them cleaner than other countries. Nearly a century after it was first drilled, the Gulf of Mexico remains a major source of U.S. oil and gas, providing about 14% of today’s domestic product — enough that, if it were a country, it would rank among the world’s 12 largest oil producers. .

Daniel Turner, founder of the group Power The Future, which supports workers in the oil, coal and natural gas industries, said the new restrictions would represent an attack on American energy. “President Trump should rescind this order on day one, and quickly consign Biden’s green agenda to the dustbin of history,” he said.

Offshore drilling remains a politically contentious topic. Although Republicans tend to be more supportive, the Pew Research Center found last May that less than half of survey respondents support more offshore oil and gas exploration. The prospect is particularly controversial in some coastal states, where leaders from both parties have warned that oil spills could cripple tourism-based economies.

(Written by Jennifer A. Dlouhy)