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
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Florida on Sunday ahead of a pivotal meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, amid growing Israeli concern that Washington may push forward with Phase II of the Gaza agreement without securing Israel’s core security demands.
Israel has officially deployed its Iron Beam laser-based air defense system in operational field use, marking a historic breakthrough in modern warfare, the Defense Ministry announced Sunday. The system has now transitioned from development and testing into active service with the Israel Defense Forces, becoming the world’s first high-power laser interception platform to reach full operational status.
A knife attack outside Suriname’s capital Paramaribo killed at least nine people, including five children, police said Sunday, in one of the deadliest violent incidents in the small country’s recent history.
One person was killed and another critically injured Sunday after two helicopters collided midair in southern New Jersey, U.S. authorities said, adding to heightened concern over aviation safety following an earlier deadly air disaster near the nation’s capital.
Christians in Indonesia’s West Java were weighing their options Sunday after Muslims reportedly formed a human wall to block members of a Protestant church from reaching their Christmas worship service, in an incident that has underscored concerns about religious extremism in the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is holding talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump at his Florida residence, as part of renewed efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. The discussions come just hours after Moscow issued a fresh warning over the possible deployment of European peacekeepers.
Authorities in Japan continued an investigation Sunday after confirming that at least two people were killed and 26 were injured in a massive multi-vehicle crash on a snow-covered expressway, as millions began traveling for the year-end and New Year holidays.