Bloomberg News: Biden will ban new oil drilling in vast areas of US Atlantic and Pacific waters
Bloomberg News reported that President Joe Biden will ban any new offshore oil and natural gas development on 625 million acres of U.S. coast territory (250 million hectares), effective immediately.
According to the report, which cited unidentified sources familiar with the issue, the ban will be announced on Monday and prevent the sale of drilling licenses in certain areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf of Mexico oceans.
The report stated that Biden leaves the door open to new leasing of oil and gas in the western and central areas of the Gulf of Mexico. These two areas account for 14% of America's fuel production.
The White House didn't immediately respond to an outside-of-business hours request for comment.
The ban would cement Biden's legacy in addressing climate changes and his goal of decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050.
The New York Times reported on a section of law that Biden relied on to make his decision, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. This gives a president broad leeway in banning drilling, and it does not contain language that would permit President-elect Donald Trump, or future presidents, to revoke this ban.
Biden, Trump, and Trump's predecessor Barack Obama all used the law in order to ban sales offshore drilling rights along some coastal areas.
Trump attempted in 2017 to reverse the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean bans that Obama had made towards the end of his administration. But a federal court ruled in 2019, that the law did not give presidents legal authority to overturn previous bans.
(source: Reuters)
