On his first day in office, Biden will lift Trump's offshore drilling ban.

On his first day in office, Biden will lift Trump's offshore drilling ban.
On his first day in office, Biden will lift Trump's offshore drilling ban.
  • Trump stated at a news conference that he would have it revoked on the first day.
  • On Monday, Biden declared that he would safeguard 625 million acres of ocean from oil and gas drilling in the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska's Northern Bering Sea.

As soon as he takes office, President-Elect Donald Trump intends to reverse President Joe Biden's prohibition on offshore drilling along the majority of the U.S. coastline.

Trump stated at a news conference that he would have it revoked on day one, but he suggested that challenging the ban in court might be necessary to reverse it.

On Monday, Biden declared that he would safeguard 625 million acres of ocean from offshore oil and gas drilling in the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska's Northern Bering Sea. The president enacted the ban under a provision of the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

An attempt by Trump to reverse the ban is likely to end up in court and may ultimately be overturned.

In his first term, Trump attempted to enact an executive order to overturn Obama's law protecting Arctic and Atlantic waters from offshore drilling. However, a federal court deemed the order unlawful, and reversing the ban would necessitate Congressional action.

The Republican Party has a majority in both chambers of the new Congress.

by Spencer Kimball

Markets