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
Nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran are scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, marking the third round of indirect talks this month as tensions continue to mount across the Middle East.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, arrived off Israel’s coast on Monday, marking a significant escalation in U.S. military deployments to the region as Washington and Jerusalem prepare for the possibility of renewed conflict with Iran.
The Trump administration is preparing a new wave of national security tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of President Donald Trump’s second-term levies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A federal appeals court has ruled that Louisiana may begin enforcing its law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, marking a significant victory for supporters of religious liberty and America’s historic foundations.
More than 10,000 flights were canceled nationwide between Feb. 22 and Feb. 24 as a powerful nor’easter slammed the East Coast with heavy snow, damaging winds, and coastal flooding, paralyzing travel and prompting emergency declarations across multiple states.
Greenland and Denmark have publicly rejected U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s suggestion that an American naval hospital ship be sent to the Arctic island, saying their universal healthcare system already provides free treatment to all citizens.
A 33-year-old man in eastern Uganda was allegedly killed by his Muslim father after converting to Christianity, local sources said, in what church leaders describe as part of a broader pattern of faith-related violence in the African nation.