Biden to ban new oil drilling over huge stretch of U.S. Atlantic and Pacific waters

U.S. President Joe Biden is ready to order a ban on new offshore oil and fuel growth throughout some 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory, ruling out the sale of drilling rights in Atlantic and Pacific waters in addition to the jap Gulf of Mexico.

The transfer represents a sweeping effort to completely defend coastal waters — and communities that rely upon them — from fossil gas growth and the danger of oil spills. At the identical time, Biden is retaining the door open for brand new oil and pure fuel leasing within the central and western parts of the Gulf of Mexico which have been drilled for many years and at the moment present about 14% of the nation’s manufacturing of these fuels, mentioned individuals conversant in the matter who requested to not be named as a result of the choice just isn’t but public.

Biden’s determination, set to be introduced on Monday, will additional burnish his local weather credentials, deepening his report of fostering conservation and zero-emission power. It builds on a sequence of last-minute White House strikes to safeguard lands and enshrine environmental protections earlier than President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace.