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Today's Topics:
1. Biden to block oil drilling in nearly a quarter of America
(Stephen Loosley)
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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2025 18:32:42 +0000
From: Stephen Loosley <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] Biden to block oil drilling in nearly a quarter of
America
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Biden to block oil drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. waters
The president will sign memorandums prohibiting future oil and gas leasing
across parts of the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the eastern Gulf of
Mexico and the Northern Bering Sea.
By Maxine Joselow January 4, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. ESTYesterday at 6:00 a.m. EST
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/01/04/biden-offshore-oil-drilling/
President Joe Biden will move Monday to block all future oil and gas drilling
across more than 625 million acres of federal waters ? equivalent to nearly a
quarter of the total land area of the United States, according to two people
briefed on the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the
announcement is not yet public.
The action underscores how Biden is racing to cement his legacy on climate
change and conservation in his last weeks in office. President-elect Donald
Trump, who has described his energy policy as ?drill, baby, drill,? is likely
to work with congressional Republicans to challenge the decision.
Biden will issue two memorandums that prohibit future federal oil and gas
leasing across large swaths of the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the
eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska, the two people
said. The oil and gas industry has long prized the eastern Gulf of Mexico in
particular, viewing the area as a key part of its offshore production plans.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team, said in an
email: ?This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on
the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and
lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby,
drill.?
The move could have the biggest impact in the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts
for about 14 percent of the country?s crude oil production, according to the
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Industry operations there focus on a
small sliver of federal waters off Louisiana?s coast.
The decision would have little effect on a stretch of the Atlantic from North
Carolina to Florida, where no drilling is underway. There is weak industry
interest in the region, and lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns
about possible oil spills devastating local beaches and tourism.
In fact, Trump imposed a 10-year moratorium on offshore oil exploration off the
coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina when courting voters there during
his 2020 campaign. ?This protects your beautiful gulf and your beautiful ocean,
and it will for a long time to come,? Trump said as he announced the
election-year reversal during an appearance at a lighthouse in Florida.
The Northern Bering Sea, off the coast of western Alaska, is home to migrating
marine mammals including bowhead and beluga whales, walruses and ice seals,
which are hunted by many Alaska Natives. In 2016, President Barack Obama issued
an executive order that prohibited oil and gas exploration across more than
112,000 square miles of marine habitat in the Northern Bering Sea and called
for tribal comanagement of the protected area.
Environmentalists praised Biden?s plans, saying they would prevent future oil
spills that threaten coastal communities and marine wildlife.
?No one wants an oil spill off their coast, and our hope is that this can be a
bipartisan historic moment where areas are set aside for future generations,?
Joseph Gordon, climate and energy campaign director for the conservation group
Oceana, said in a phone interview.
The industry has defended its safety record and several industry groups blasted
the expected decision. Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries
Association, which represents the offshore oil and wind industries, said areas
with little interest today could become important to national security in the
future.
?Even if there?s no immediate interest in some areas, it?s crucial for the
federal government to maintain the flexibility to adapt its energy policy,
especially in response to unexpected global changes like the Russian invasion
of Ukraine,? Milito said in an email. ?Blanket bans only serve to shift energy
production and economic opportunities abroad, benefiting countries like Russia
at our expense.?
Biden plans to invoke the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which gives
the president broad powers to withdraw federal waters from future leasing. A
federal judge ruled in 2019 that such withdrawals cannot be undone without an
act of Congress.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the new chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, suggested that he would seek to overturn the decision
using the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to nullify an
executive action within 60 days of enactment with a simple majority vote.
The expected move is ?yet another attempt by the Biden administration to
undercut the incoming Trump administration and ignore the will of the American
people ? who decisively voted to reverse this war on American energy,? Lee said
in an emailed statement, adding, ?Senate Republicans will push back using every
tool at our disposal.?
Biden and his deputies have been working to finalize several conservation
policies during his final days in office. The Interior Department proposed
restricting energy development across more than 260,000 acres in Nevada?s Ruby
Mountains earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Biden will travel to California to designate two national monuments
on lands sacred to Native American tribes ? the roughly 644,000-acre Chuckwalla
National Monument in Southern California and the roughly 200,000-acre S?tt?tla
National Monument near the Oregon border.
By Maxine Joselow, Maxine Joselow is a staff writer who covers climate change
and the environment. follow on X@maxinejoselow
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