President-elect Donald Trump lashed out at President Joe Biden on Monday for using his final days in office to push the Democrats’ climate change agenda through a series of executive orders.
In a post on Truth Social, the president-elect said, “Biden is doing everything possible to make the TRANSITION as difficult as … possible, from Lawfare such as has never been seen before, to costly and ridiculous Executive Orders on the Green New Scam and other money wasting Hoaxes.”
He added: Fear not, these “Orders” will all be terminated shortly, and we will become a Nation of Common Sense and Strength.”
Biden issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting new offshore oil and gas drilling over more than 625 million acres of coastal waters. The ban applies to the East and West Coasts, along with the Gulf of Mexico and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea, according to The New York Times.
In many ways, the ban is symbolic. There has been almost no oil and gas exploration off California’s shores since an enormous oil spill near Santa Barbara in 1969 that shocked the nation. Drilling in Arctic federal waters is currently limited to a single facility in the Beaufort Sea. Mr. Trump himself imposed a 10-year moratorium on drilling along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida when he was courting voters in those states during his re-election campaign in 2020. And the eastern Gulf of Mexico has been under some form of drilling moratorium since 2006.
“The relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas I am withdrawing do not justify the environmental, public health and economic risks that would come from new leasing and drilling,” Mr. Biden said in a statement.
The executive order would not stop new drilling in the central and western areas of the Gulf of Mexico, some of which has been mandated by Congress. The Gulf produces nearly 15 percent of the nation’s oil and accounts for about 97 percent of U.S. offshore gas production.
“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,” Mr. Biden said.
While environmentalists are quite giddy about the move, others have criticized it. Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt characterized the ban as “a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people” who gave Trump “a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices.”
Ron Neal of the Independent Petroleum Association of America said the ban would be “significant and catastrophic.”
While Trump will likely repeal the ban after taking office, it might not be as easy as using his pen and phone. Leftist environmental groups will certainly challenge any attempt to do away with the ban in court, and it could take an act of Congress to repeal the measure fully.
President Biden has also taken aim at natural gas water heaters. He issued an executive order that would ban the sale of certain natural gas water heaters if they do not meet stricter energy efficiency standards. The Appliance Standards Awareness Project estimated that this ban could affect 40 percent of tankless water heaters, The New York Post reported.
Those supporting the measure argue it will drastically slash carbon emissions while helping consumers save money over the long run. Yet, opponents point out that the policy would increase costs for low-income consumers who will have to pay higher prices for water heaters that comply with Biden’s restrictions.