The president of the United States, Joe Biden, banned new oil and gas drilling in an immense area of coastal waters on Monday, weeks before Donald Trump, who favors increasing fossil fuel production, returns to the White House.
The ban covers the entire Atlantic coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific coasts off California, Oregon and Washington as well as a portion of the Bering Sea off Alaska, a White House statement said. The decision protects more than 253 million hectares (670 million acres) of waters.
“As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we transition to a clean energy economy, it is time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren,” Biden said in a statement, unless 15 days after leaving power.
“As we balance the many uses and benefits of the United States ocean, I am clear that the relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas I am decommissioning does not justify the environmental, public health, and economic risks that would result from new leasing and drilling.” », he added.
“I will cancel it immediately”
The ban has no end date and could be legally complex to overturn. But not impossible, according to Trump, willing to tear it down. «It’s ridiculous. I will cancel it immediately. (…) I have the right to lift the ban immediately,” once he takes office, the Republican magnate said in a radio interview.
Biden took this action under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which gives the federal government authority over the exploitation of maritime resources. However, the law does not expressly provide for presidents to unilaterally reverse a ban on exploitation without going through Congress.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to “unleash” domestic fossil fuel production with the goal of reducing the cost of gas, despite the country already recording record extraction rates.
“A shameful decision designed to take revenge”
After the US media announced the measure last week, the designated next White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, denounced “a shameful decision designed to take political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump the mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices.
Environmental NGOs welcomed the decision. “It’s an epic ocean victory!” said Joseph Gordon, Oceana’s director of climate and energy. “Our precious coastal communities are now protected for future generations,” he added.
For its part, the White House assured that with this decision “President Biden has conserved more than 670 million acres of United States lands, waters and oceans, more than any president in history.” The move joins a series of last-minute climate policy actions by the Biden administration ahead of Trump’s return to the White House.
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