Biden bans new offshore drilling along most US coasts, Trump vows to reverse action

FILE – Cargo vessels are seen anchored offshore, sharing space with oil platforms, before heading into the Los Angeles-Long Beach port on Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia, File)

LOS ANGELES – President Joe Biden Monday withdrew areas offshore, including those in the Pacific Ocean along the Southern California coast, from all future oil and natural gas leasing.

While the decision was celebrated by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the US Secretary of the Interior, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to reverse the action.

“Hundreds of miles of California’s iconic coastline is now fully protected from expanded offshore drilling, thanks to today’s action by President Biden,” Newsom said in a statement reacting to Biden’s action.

“For decades, we have led the fight to protect the Pacific Coast and the millions of Californians who call these coastal communities home.

“We thank the Biden-Harris Administration for taking this bold action that will pay dividends for generations to come. New offshore drilling has no place in California, and the president’s action strengthens our work to protect the coast.”

US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said Monday’s action recognizes that the environmental and economic risks and harms that would result from drilling in the areas outweigh any limited fossil fuel resource potential.

“President Biden’s actions today are part of our work across this administration to make bold and enduring changes that recognize the impact of oil and gas drilling on our nation’s coastlines,” Haaland said in a statement Monday.

“Today, the president is taking action that reflects what states, tribes and local communities have shared with us — a strong and overwhelming need to support resilient oceans and coastlines by protecting them from unnecessary oil and gas development.”

The memoranda issued by Biden withdraw significant portions of the Outer Continental Shelf from future oil and natural gas leasing, including the entire U.S. Pacific and Eastern Atlantic coasts, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the remainder of the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area offshore Alaska.

The withdrawal areas encompass more than 625 million acres — and represent the largest withdrawal in US history.

The withdrawals are expected to help protect coastal communities, marine ecosystems, and local economies — including fishing, recreation and tourism — from oil spills and other impacts of offshore drilling.

“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,” Biden said in a statement.

“It is not worth the risks. 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.”

In an interview Monday morning with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, President-elect Donald Trump — who has vowed to expand domestic oil drilling — quickly condemned the move and said he would reverse Biden’s action when he takes office.

“I see it just came over that Biden has banned all oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory,” Trump said.

FILE – Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa., as moderator South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem listens. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

“It’s ridiculous. I’ll unban it immediately. I have the right to unban it immediately. What’s he doing? Why is he doing it? … We have oil and gas at a level that nobody else has. And we’re going to take advantage of it.

And when I see somebody saying he’s going to ban 625 million acres, he doesn’t know what that is. He doesn’t even know what 625 million acres would look like. And we can’t let that happen to our country. It’s really our greatest economic asset and we’re not going to let that happen to our country.”

According to the Department of the Interior, oil production in 2024 is at an all-time high on federal lands and waters.

The Outer Continental Shelf produced about 675 million barrels of oil and 796 billion cubic feet of gas in the fiscal year 2023. It accounted for nearly 14% of all oil production and 2% of natural has production in the United States.

The Western and Central Gulf of Mexico areas are responsible for nearly all of oil and gas production. (CNS)