President Joe Biden has announced a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling along most of the U.S. coastline, a decision made just weeks before Donald Trump is set to take office. The ban covers the entire Atlantic coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific coast off California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as a portion of the Bering Sea off Alaska. This is the latest in a series of climate policy actions taken by the Biden administration as it prepares for the return of Trump to the White House.

Trump, who has pledged to reverse Biden's environmental policies, has vowed to lift the drilling ban “immediately” upon taking office. However, he may face legal hurdles in doing so, as U.S. law could complicate such a reversal. During his campaign, Trump promised to ramp up domestic fossil fuel production to reduce gas prices, despite the U.S. already experiencing record-high extraction rates.

Biden explained that his decision was based on the potential harm drilling could cause to vulnerable coastal areas. He emphasized that the risks associated with offshore drilling outweighed the need to expand domestic energy production. “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,” Biden stated.

Trump, however, criticized the move, calling the ban “ridiculous” in a radio interview. He asserted that he would reverse it immediately, claiming the legal right to do so. Trump has consistently expressed his intention to undo Biden’s climate and conservation policies.

Biden’s ban is enacted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which grants U.S. presidents the authority to withdraw areas from leasing and drilling. However, a 2019 court ruling confirmed that the law does not permit presidents to undo prior drilling bans, meaning a reversal would likely require Congressional approval, which is now under Republican control. The law also does not allow presidents to revoke areas already leased for drilling.

Despite his strong support for oil and gas exploration, Trump himself utilized this law in 2020 to protect waters off Florida’s coast, a move viewed as politically motivated to win votes in the state. The protection was set to expire in 2032, but Biden's new policy will make the ban permanent.

The ban affects over 625 million acres (253 million hectares) of U.S. waters. While Trump’s incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, condemned the decision as politically motivated and detrimental to American consumers, environmental groups applauded Biden’s move, seeing it as a significant step toward preserving the environment.