Biden Bans New Offshore Drilling for Oil and Gas Along Majority of US Coastline
Two weeks before the end of his Presidential term, Joe Biden has taken action to protect over 625 million acres of the US’ ocean from future oil and natural gas leasing.
Today (6 January) US President Joe Biden announced a permanent ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling along the entire eastern US Atlantic coast, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Coast along California, Oregon, and Washington, and the remaining portion of the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area in Alaska.
The announcement highlights that nearly 40% of Americans live in coastal counties that rely on a healthy ocean to thrive. Additionally, almost 400 municipalities and over 2,300 elected local, state, Tribal, and federal officials across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts have formally opposed the expansion of offshore drilling in these areas in view of its severe environmental, health, and economic threats.
The Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area was established in 2016 and includes one of the largest marine mammal migrations in the world – beluga and bowhead whales, walruses, and seals travel the funnel of the Bering Strait each year to feed and breed in the Arctic. Oil and gas development would pose severe dangers to coastal communities, and where the health of these waters is critically important to food security and to the culture of more than 70 coastal Tribes, including the Yup’ik, Cup’ik, and Inupiaq people who have relied on these resources for millennia.
This action has been taken under Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The withdrawals have no expiration date, and prohibit all future oil and natural gas leasing in the areas withdrawn. Within his presidential term, Biden has conserved over 670 million acres of America’s lands and waters, more than any other president in history. Previously, in January of 2021, he restored protections for part of the Northern Bering Sea, and in March 2023 withdrew 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea from future oil and gas leasing, which completed protections for the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean.
Within the announcement, Biden stated, “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. It is not worth the risks. 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 continued, “We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy, or between keeping our ocean healthy, our coastlines resilient, and the food they produce secure and keeping energy prices low. Those are false choices.”
Incoming President Donald Trump has made his plans for the US’ oil and gas industry clear with his repetition of the slogan “Drill, baby, drill” throughout his campaign. Meanwhile, under the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario, presented in World Energy Outlook 2024, demand for oil peaks by 2030 and then declines significantly. This scenario aims to limit global warming to 1.5°C by mid-century, leading to a substantial reduction in the use of fossil fuels, including oil.
