21 hours ago
Last Updated:January 07, 2025, 23:37 IST
Donald Trump said he would go to the courts seeking justice if need arose and blamed Team Biden for hurting the transition process.
US President-elect Donald Trump slammed his predecessor Joe Biden for introducing an offshore drilling ban. (IMAGE: REUTERS/AP)
US President-elect Donald Trump used his press conference on Tuesday to complain that President Joe Biden was undermining his transition to power a day after the incumbent moved to ban offshore energy drilling in most federal waters.
“I’m going to put it back on day one," Trump told reporters. He pledged to take it to the courts “if we need to."
Trump said Biden’s effort — part of a series of final actions in office by the Democrat’s administration — was undermining his plans for once he’s in office.
“You know, they told me that we’re going to do everything possible to make this transition to the new administration very smooth," Trump said. “It’s not smooth."
But Biden’s team has extended access and courtesies to the Trump team that the Republican former president initially denied Biden after his 2020 election victory. Trump incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles told Axios in an interview published Monday that Biden chief of staff Jeff Zients had been “has been very helpful."
Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, said he is using authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas 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 Monday.
“As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren," he said.
Biden’s orders would not affect large swaths of the Gulf of Mexico, where most US offshore drilling occurs, but it would protect coastlines along California, Florida and other states from future drilling.
Biden’s actions, which protect more than 625 million acres of federal waters, could be difficult for President-elect Donald Trump to unwind, since they would likely require an act of Congress to repeal. The 72-year-old law that Biden cited allows the president to withdraw portions of the outer continental shelf from mineral leasing, including leasing to drill for oil and gas, if the areas are deemed too sensitive to drill.
Trump himself has a complicated history on offshore drilling. He signed a memorandum in 2020 directing the Interior secretary to prohibit drilling in the waters off both Florida coasts, and off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina until 2032.
Earlier in his term, Trump had initially moved to vastly expand offshore drilling, before retreating amid widespread opposition in Florida and other coastal states.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - Agencies)Location :Palm Beach, Florida, US
First Published:January 07, 2025, 23:36 IST
News world ‘Going To Put It Back On Day One’: Trump Vows To Undo Biden's Offshore Drilling Ban
