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U.S. President Joe Biden plans to prohibit new offshore oil and gas developments across a significant portion of U.S. coastal territory (over 250 million hectares), excluding the sale of drilling rights in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico.
This was reported by Bloomberg.
This move aims to provide permanent protection to coastal waters and communities from fossil fuel extraction and the risk of oil spills.
At the same time, according to sources, Biden leaves the door open for new leasing of oil and gas fields in the central and western parts of the Gulf of Mexico, which have been drilled for decades and currently account for about 14% of the nation’s oil and gas production.
Biden’s decision is expected to be announced on Monday. It builds on a series of last-minute actions by the White House to preserve lands and solidify environmental protections before newly elected President Donald Trump takes office.
This step by Biden could have a long-term impact, complicating Trump’s intentions to increase domestic oil and gas production.
Democrats in Congress and environmental groups have lobbied for Biden to impose maximum permanent protections against offshore drilling to safeguard vulnerable coastal communities, protect marine ecosystems from oil spills, and combat climate change.
Biden’s measure will not affect drilling and other activities under existing lease agreements.
It is worth recalling that European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra recently stated that the world is entering an era of “geopolitical winter” amid the rise of far-right forces in Europe and the return to power of Donald Trump in the United States.
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