On January 3, the Financial Associated Press (editor Huang Junzhi) reported that President Joe Biden of the USA is preparing to issue a decree that permanently bans the development of new offshore Oil & Gas in some coastal waters of the USA, effectively "locking in" difficult-to-repeal protections during his final weeks in the White House.

According to informed sources, Biden will issue this executive order within a few days, banning the sale of new drilling rights in some areas beyond the continental shelf of the country. This move will certainly create difficulties for President-elect Trump’s ambition to increase domestic energy production.

According to Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, if the natural extension of a coastal state's land territory extends beyond its territorial sea baseline by more than two hundred nautical miles, it can claim a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, referred to as the "outer continental shelf."

However, informed sources also stated that the full scope of Biden's upcoming offshore protection measures is still unclear, but this designation will include areas deemed critical for the Eco-friendly Concept defense capabilities of coastal regions, and the aim of these measures is to target these areas. In addition, this announcement will not affect exploratory drilling and other activities under existing leases.

Notably, unlike other easily reversible administrative actions, the statement planned by Biden is rooted in a 72-year-old law that grants broad discretion to the White House to permanently protect US waters from the impacts of Oil & Gas leasing, and this law does not give the President explicit power to revoke these protective designations.

This move responds to pressure from congressional Democrats and environmental organizations who are lobbying Biden to "maximize permanent protection" for offshore drilling, arguing that this action is essential to protect the vulnerable coastal Community, safeguard marine ecosystems from oil spills, and address climate change.

Bipartisan differences.

For more than two years, officials in the Biden administration have been considering this approach, but their determination was strengthened after Trump's victory, as the outgoing president hoped to implement new environmental measures before leaving office. The new offshore protection measures align with Biden's recent actions to protect industrial mining and energy development areas, demonstrating his sincerity regarding Eco-friendly Concept.

Environmentalists state that this move enables the USA to meet future Energy demands without jeopardizing areas vital to National Security, coastal Communities, and marine life.

In contrast, Trump vowed to unleash domestic Oil & Gas production while eliminating environmental regulations that restrict Oil & Gas Consumer.

Analysts expect Trump to order the repeal of the aforementioned protective measures, but it is currently unclear whether he will succeed. During his first term, Trump attempted to reverse former President Obama's order protecting over 0.125 billion acres (50.6 million hectares) of Arctic and Atlantic oceans, but this action was rejected by a federal district court in 2019.

Advocates of the Oil Industry have warned against the new restrictive measures, arguing that the world will still need fossil fuels in the coming decades, and that the USA produces fossil fuels more cleanly than other countries. For example, Daniel Turner, the founder of 'Power the Future,' an organization supporting Oil, Coal, and Henry Hub Natural Gas industry workers, stated that the new restrictions would be an attack on US Energy.

"President Trump should overturn this order on his first day and quickly throw Biden's green agenda into the dustbin of history," he said.

In summary, to this day, offshore drilling remains a politically divisive topic. Although Republicans tend to be more supportive, the Pew Research Center found that less than half of respondents supported more offshore Oil & Gas drilling last May.

It is reported that this prospect has caused especially significant controversy in some coastal areas, where bipartisan leaders have warned that an oil spill could undermine a tourism-based economy.