By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – A standoff emerged Tuesday between outgoing President Joe Biden and his incoming successor, Donald J. Trump, over his plans to expand offshore drilling.
Trump, whose “drill, baby, drill” mantra has energized the fossil fuel industry, condemned Biden for moving to ban new offshore oil and natural gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters.
It was seen as a last-minute effort to prevent the incoming Trump from taking action.
Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, said he is using authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing.
“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.
“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 stressed.
Biden’s orders would not affect large swaths of the Gulf of Mexico, where most U.S. offshore drilling occurs. Still, it would protect coastlines along California, Florida, and other states from future drilling.
BAN ‘RIDICULOUS’
However, in a radio interview, Trump branded the ban “ridiculous”.
“I’ll unban it immediately,” he pledged. “I have the right to unban it immediately.”
Trump has previously said he will reverse Biden’s conservation and climate change policies, arguing that the United States has been taken advantage of by heavy carbon dioxide, or CO2, emitting countries like China.
Yet analysts say Biden’s actions, which protect more than 625 million acres of federal waters, could be complex for President-elect Donald Trump to unwind since they would likely require an act of the United States Congress to repeal.
Trump himself has a complicated history of offshore drilling. In 2020, he signed a memorandum directing the Interior Secretary to prohibit drilling in the waters off both Florida coasts and off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina until 2032.
The action came after Trump initially moved to vastly expand offshore drilling before retreating amid widespread opposition in Florida and other coastal states. Biden’s ban covers the Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific coast of California, Oregon, and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska.
It is the latest in a string of last-minute climate policy actions by the Biden administration ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Ukraine and its key European allies have declared that any negotiations to end the war with Russia must be based on the current line of contact, rejecting Moscow’s territorial demands, as doubts grow over a planned summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Days after U.S. President Donald J. Trump oversaw renewed peace efforts in Israel and predicted a “new dawn” for the Middle East, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its 2025 economic growth forecast for the region but cautioned that global risks continue to weigh on the outlook.
Japan on Tuesday elected Sanae Takaichi as its first female prime minister, marking a historic political shift in the world’s third-largest economy.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance voiced optimism Tuesday that the fragile Gaza ceasefire would endure, even as he warned Hamas of total destruction should it fail to disarm under President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested more than 480,000 illegal immigrants in the past nine months — with 70% of them convicted of crimes or facing criminal charges — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday.
French authorities said Tuesday that crown jewels stolen in a daring daylight heist at the Louvre Museum over the weekend are worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million) — excluding their immense historical value to France.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that American airstrikes had wiped out Iran’s nuclear industry, telling the president to “keep dreaming.”