President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his intention to overturn President Joe Biden's recent decision to permanently ban future offshore oil and gas development in parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Trump made these remarks during a press briefing at Mar-a-Lago, where he stated that he would reverse Biden's action immediately.
Trump emphasized his commitment to promoting domestic energy production by declaring, 'We will drill, baby, drill. We're going to be drilling in a lot of other locations, and the energy costs are going to come way down.'
Providing context to Trump's statements, Biden's executive action on Monday invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, granting presidents the authority to withdraw federal waters from future oil and gas leasing and development. This action effectively prohibits oil companies from leasing waters for new drilling in 625 million acres of ocean.
It is important to note that the law does not explicitly empower presidents to revoke such actions and reinstate federal waters for development. Therefore, Trump would need congressional approval to amend the law before he could reverse Biden's decision.
