Biden bans oil and gas drilling off N.J. coast as Trump readies to take office
The ban on future oil and natural gas leasing would apply to the entire U.S. East Coast and other federal waters.
President Joe Biden on Monday banned all future oil and gas drilling off U.S. coastal waters, including New Jersey, in what he called an effort to protect them from environmental and economic harm.
The action comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in two weeks, though it’s unlikely to slow U.S. fossil fuel production. Trump is already pledging to reverse the ban.
The ban applies to all future oil and natural gas leasing, according to an administration statement, along the entire East Coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific Coast and parts of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska.
In all, the sweeping ban would apply to 625 million acres of federal waters.
“President Biden has determined that the environmental and economic risks and harms that would result from drilling in these areas outweigh their limited fossil fuel resource potential,” the statement said. “With these withdrawals, President Biden is protecting coastal communities, marine ecosystems, and local economies — including fishing, recreation, and tourism — from oil spills and other impacts of offshore drilling.”
Although there are no current plans to drill off New Jersey’s coast, highly valued for the tourism dollars it generates, Biden’s move comes as Trump is widely expected to attempt to roll back environmental protections as he did during his last administration.
A recent New York Times analysis of federal campaign data showed that fossil fuel interests contributed about $75 million to Trump’s presidential campaign, the Republican National Committee, and other committees.
For the offshore fossil fuel drilling ban, Biden used authority granted by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The ban has no expiration date and so would prohibit all future oil and natural gas leasing.
The administration said the ban would apply to the entire East Coast, or 334 million acres of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf from Canada to the southern tip of Florida, and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. There are currently no active oil and natural gas leases in the waters.
Can Trump undo it?
E&E News, the energy and environmental news site run by Politico, reported that Biden’s ban won’t likely slow fossil fuel production. However, it could create a legal battle with the oil industry, which is already pushing for a reversal. And it won’t be easy for Trump to undo when he takes office Jan. 20.
Revoking the ban would probably require an act of Congress, which is now led by a slim Republican majority and closely divided along partisan lines, E&E News said.
And the Associated Press reported that Trump on Monday declared to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that, after he is inaugurated, the ban will, “be changed on day one. I can change it immediately. … I have the right to unban it.”
In 2018, Trump backed off a plan to allow drilling off the coast of Florida after pressure from then-Gov. Rick Scott, now a Republican senator from the state. At the time, New Jersey officials also joined in the pressure, fearing that oil drilling could come to there.
Biden has been a staunch backer of offshore wind along the East Coast, leading some Republican-aligned groups, as well as others, to line up against the projects, citing what they believe is a potential for environmental harm, especially in New Jersey.
Impact on New Jersey
New Jersey is still pushing ahead with plans to develop large-scale offshore wind energy to be produced by hundreds of turbines, although the economics of the projects has taken a turn for the worse over the past several years.
Regardless, in October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Clean Air Permit to Atlantic Shores LLC for the building of two offshore wind farms to be located 8.7 miles from Atlantic City’s shore.
The area is regulated by the federal government and required the permit, which allows for construction of up to 200 wind turbines that could generate 2,800 megawatts of electrical power, or the equivalent of one million homes. The permit also allows for up to eight substations to collect and transport the electricity.
It’s unclear whether Trump might try to scuttle New Jersey’s wind program. He could seek to roll back renewable energy tax cuts favorable to the wind industry or pose other challenges.
Some are calling Biden’s drilling ban largely symbolic. As president, Trump put in place a drilling moratorium for much of the southern East Coast. And a five-year federal plan that runs through June 30, 2029, does not include any potential oil and gas lease sales in New Jersey.
However, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D., N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a press briefing Monday that Biden’s executive action cements a ban into place permanently, rather than leaving it open to future Congressional or presidential plans.
Pallone doubts that Trump would be able to reverse the ban, given opposition he would face from Republican governors and elected officials in coastal states.
“I don’t see any scenario where it gets overturned,” Pallone said, noting, “I just don’t think the public politics are there.”