Biden looks to block offshore drilling on millions of acres of federal lands

President Biden has used a decades-old law to block offshore drilling in vast tracts of land in federal waters in the Atlantic and Pacific.

Using the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the President will withdraw millions of acres of available blocks for lease consideration for offshore oil and gas development.

The move, coming with just days left in Mr Biden’s term, would thwart the plans of President-elect Trump who promised to ‘drill, baby, drill’ during his campaign. He will be sworn in on 20 January.

Only an act of Congress could reverse President Biden’s ban, which would block offshore oil and gas development on 625M acres of federal land.

The ban, first reported by The New York Times, drew criticism from US oil and gas interests.

“American voters sent a clear message in support of domestic energy development, and yet the current administration is using its final days in office to cement a record of doing everything possible to restrict it,” said API president and chief executive Mike Sommers.

The National Oceans Industries Association (NOIA) president Erik Milito said the ban was “a strategic error, driven not by science or voter mandate, but by political motives.”

Added Mr Milito, “Such moratoriums threaten our economic and national security by creating political barriers to our own resources.”

NOIA represents the interests of companies supporting the development of both offshore oil and gas and offshore wind in the United States.

Supporters of President Biden see the ban as a way to reinforce his ’green energy’ legacy.