Summary
President Joe Biden invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect 625 million acres of U.S. offshore waters from future oil and gas drilling, blocking areas along the East and West coasts, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska’s North Bering Sea.
The move aims to prevent environmental damage and hinder Donald Trump’s plans to expand fossil fuel production upon returning to office.
Trump allies and the oil industry criticized the decision as politically motivated, while Biden emphasized bipartisan support for protecting coastal regions.
This particular law allows the president to designate protected areas, but doesn’t give them the authority to remove that designation. Trump would need either an act of Congress or the Supreme Court to take down the law as unconstitutional.
Oh I guess we’re going with that one then. :(