US President Joe Biden is set to invoke a 70-year-old law to block President Donald Trump from expanding oil and gas drilling in US coastal waters, according to Bloomberg.
Biden will use the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, granting him authority to permanently protect waters from development.
Sources indicate the ban will target parts of the Pacific Ocean near California and the eastern Gulf of Mexico near Florida.
The move aims to protect sensitive marine areas despite opposition from Trump’s pro-drilling stance.
Trump, during his first term, attempted to reverse former President Barack Obama’s protections in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans but faced a legal setback in 2019.
Biden had initially promised no new offshore drilling but announced three lease sales for 2025, 2027, and 2029 in the Gulf of Mexico, the smallest number in modern history.
Meanwhile, Trump has pledged to expand domestic energy exploration and reverse Biden’s electric vehicle mandates.