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 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Republicans have received a major boost in the battle for House control after a series of court rulings dramatically shifted the redistricting landscape ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the war against Iran is “not over,” declaring that Israel and its allies must ensure Tehran’s remaining enriched uranium and nuclear-enrichment infrastructure are removed or dismantled before the threat can be considered neutralized.
British paratroopers and military medics were deployed to the world’s most remote inhabited island after a suspected hantavirus case linked to a deadly cruise ship outbreak triggered international health concerns.
The United States endured its worst spring drought on record last month, with more than 60% of the lower 48 states experiencing moderate drought or worse conditions, according to federal monitoring agencies. The rapidly intensifying crisis is raising concerns over food prices, agricultural production, and an already severe wildfire season stretching across multiple regions of the country.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Iran rejected each other’s latest peace proposals aimed at ending the 10-week war, sending the U.S. dollar higher against major currencies as investors sought safety amid renewed Middle East uncertainty.
A tense calm settled over Moscow Sunday after Russia’s annual Victory Day Parade was overshadowed by fears of Ukrainian drone and “terror attacks,” with the Kremlin reportedly increasingly concerned about the security of President Vladimir Putin following a rare strike on the Russian capital.
Senior Trump administration official Ambassador Monica Crowley declared this week that the American public will soon receive concrete evidence supporting President Donald Trump’s claim that he won the 2020 presidential election in a landslide — a statement that signals the administration is moving from assertion to action on one of the most contested issues in recent American political history.