US President Joe Biden announced a major nature conservation decision. Successor Donald Trump may not be happy about this.
13:19•Updated 13:36
President of the United States Joe Biden plans to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling along most of the US coastline.
The White House made the announcement on Monday. In the order, Biden uses the 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
Biden intends to fully protect the coastal areas of the East and West coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. In Alaska, he protects part of the Bering Sea coastline.
In total, the decision protects about 253 million hectares of sea area. Biden justified his decision with his administration’s climate goals and the goal of protecting 30 percent of US land and sea areas by 2030.
– My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses and beachgoers have long known: coastal drilling causes irreversible damage to the places we love, Biden writes.
According to Biden, oil and gas drilling is not even necessary for the country’s energy demand, so it is an “unnecessary risk”.
Trump promised to drill on an unprecedented scale
Biden’s successor Donald Trump is not necessarily excited about Biden’s protection decision.
During his victorious presidential campaign, Trump promised massive drilling for gas and oil to lower energy prices. According to Reuters sources Trump had intended to increase, among other things, the possibilities of oil drilling in coastal areas.
Trump may try to overturn Biden’s law, but it may be difficult. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows presidents to block, among other things, oil drilling in desired areas. In 2019, Trump tried to dismantle some of the presidency Barack Obama’s protection decisions, but the company failed in court.
Trump used the law himself, banning the sale of drilling rights in coastal Florida until 2032. Trump spends much of his time at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Source: AFP