(Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will ban new offshore oil and gas development along most U.S. coastlines, a decision President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to boost domestic energy production, may find difficult to reverse.
The move is considered mostly symbolic, as it will not impact areas where oil and gas development is currently underway, and mainly covers zones where drillers have no important prospects, including in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The White House said on Monday that Biden will use his authority under the 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect all federal waters off the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska. The ban will affect 625 million acres (253 million hectares) of ocean.
Biden said the move was aligned with both his efforts to combat climate change and his goal to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
He also invoked the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying the low drilling potential of the areas included in the ban did not justify the public health and economic risks of future leasing.
"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," Biden said in a statement. "It is not worth the risks."
Around 15% of U.S. oil production comes from federal offshore acreage, mainly in the Gulf of Mexico, a share that has been falling sharply in the last decade as drilling onshore booms, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The United States is now the world's top oil and gas producer thanks to big increases in production from places like Texas and New Mexico, fueled by improved drilling technology and strong demand since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement comes as Trump has pledged to reverse Biden's conservation and climate change policies when he takes office later this month.
"It's ridiculous. I'll unban it immediately. I will unban it. I have the right to unban it immediately," Trump said in an interview on the Hugh Hewitt radio program.
During his term, Biden also limited new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, drawing criticism from drilling states and companies.
But the Lands Act, which allows presidents to withdraw areas from mineral leasing and drilling, does not grant them the legal authority to overturn prior bans, according to a 2019 court ruling - meaning a reversal would likely require an act of Congress. That order came in response to Trump's effort to reverse Arctic and Atlantic Ocean withdrawals made by former President Barack Obama at the end of his presidency.
Trump also used the Lands Act to ban sales of offshore drilling rights in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida through 2032. Biden's decision will protect the same area with no expiration.
It is unclear whether lawmakers would support reversing Biden's decision to protect these waters.
A Trump-era proposal in 2018 to open up the Atlantic, Pacific and new parts of the Arctic oceans to offshore drilling drew vehement opposition from most coastal states, including those led by Republicans. The states argued at the time that offshore drilling would pose significant risks to lucrative coastal tourism.
Two years later, Trump banned drilling off the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia as he campaigned for re-election.
An oil and gas industry trade group said the decision would harm American energy security and should be reversed.
"We urge policymakers to use every tool at their disposal to reverse this politically motivated decision and restore a pro-American energy approach to federal leasing," American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers said in a statement.
Environmental group Oceana (JO:OCEJ) called it a victory for Americans who depend on clean coastlines and fisheries.
"Our treasured coastal communities are now safeguarded for future generations,” Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon said in a statement.