Biden Invokes OCSLA

Think of it as a farewell "fuck you" to Trump and the rest of the "drill baby, drill" crowd...

President Joe Biden is taking action to protect 625 million acres of offshore areas from future oil and gas drilling, the White House announced Monday, in a move which could frustrate plans of the incoming Donald Trump administration.

Biden is invoking the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to prevent new fossil fuel developments off the East and West coasts of the U.S. as well as in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s North Bering Sea.

The law gives presidents the power to permanently withdraw parts of the Outer Continental Shelf from future oil and gas leasing—but doesn’t include a provision for how another president could revoke such an order. Trump would therefore likely have to get Congress to change the law before he could undo Biden’s action.

Biden’s decision, which could pose problems for Trump’s plans to quickly ramp up fossil fuel production when he returns to office this month, was condemned by Trump’s incoming press secretary.