Biden bans oil drilling in some offshore coasts on environmental concerns

US President Joe Biden has banned oil and gas drilling in more than 625 million acres of US coastal waters, two weeks before his term draws to a close, in a move that makes it difficult for the incoming Trump administration to unwind.

“Drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs,” Biden said in a White House statement today, Jan. 6. “It is not worth the risks.”

The sweeping actions are seen to hinder President-elect Trump's ability to quickly deliver on plans to scale up fossil fuel production in the US.

The steps are rooted in a provision from a 72-year-old federal act that gives presidents the authority to permanently take parts of the Outer Continental Shelf off the table for leasing activities, without providing a means for another president to undo the action.

Most of the areas endorsed in Biden’s oil drilling ban are located along the eastern Pacific Ocean off the West Coast; the Gulf of Mexico; and a small chunk of the northern Bering Sea, an area teeming with seabirds and fish.

“The environmental and economic risks and harms that would result from drilling in these areas outweigh any limited fossil fuel resource potential,” the Democratic President said in the statement, which also noted that the withdrawal was the largest in US history.