President Biden’s 11th-hour executive action banning new drilling and further oil and natural gas development in coastal waters has raised concerns among experts that the environment could ultimately end up being harmed, not helped, by the decision.
The ban, which affects over 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters, was announced earlier this month and invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The law could limit President-elect Donald Trump’s ability to revoke the action without Congress.
Experts argue that the ban could harm the environment by driving the United States to become more dependent on foreign sources of oil, often in countries with less environmental protections than those that exist in the United States.
The ban could also have a negative impact on the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which is funded in large part by $900 million in royalties from oil and gas companies. The fund’s website states that it was created to use revenues from the depletion of one natural resource – offshore oil and gas – to support the conservation of another precious resource – our land and water.
Gabriella Hoffman, director of the Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy & Conservation, warned that the ban could weaken the LWCF and set back true conservation efforts by decades. The Western Energy Alliance, a nonprofit trade association, also issued a press release warning that conservation funding will take a hit as a result of the drilling ban.
Additionally, experts argue that cutting oil drilling in the United States could lead to the use of more polluting and environmentally damaging practices in other countries. Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power The Future, argued that the Biden administration’s actions could lead to the use of slave labor and pollution in other countries.
The ban has also raised concerns about national security and the economy. Trump has said he plans to immediately reverse the drilling ban along most of the U.S. coastline, but he faces major roadblocks under a 70-year, irrevocable law.
