President Biden Builds on Bipartisan Tradition by Protecting U.S. Coastlines from Offshore Drilling
Oceana celebrates the permanent protection of the East Coast, West Coast, and eastern Gulf of Mexico from offshore drilling
Press Release Date: January 6, 2025
Location: Washington, D.C.
Contact:
Cory Gunkel, Megan Jordan | email: cgunkel@oceana.org, mjordan@oceana.org | tel: Cory Gunkel, 202.868.4061
President Biden permanently protected the East Coast, West Coast, and eastern Gulf of Mexico, and areas off Alaska, from offshore oil and gas drilling today. These coastlines are now off limits to offshore drilling, including the coasts from Washington to California and Maine to Florida.
The business community, defense advocacy groups, and the public have called for these areas to be permanently protected.
Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon released the following statement in response to President Biden’s announcement:
“This is an epic ocean victory! Thank you, President Biden, for listening to the voices from coastal communities and contributing to the bipartisan tradition of protecting our coasts. Americans have been calling for these protections for decades, and Oceana applauds President Biden for building on the legacy of Democratic and Republican presidents protecting our coasts from offshore drilling. Our coastlines are home to millions of Americans and support billions of dollars of economic activity that depend on a clean coast, abundant wildlife, and thriving fisheries. President Biden’s new protections add to this bipartisan history, including President Trump’s previous withdrawals in the southeastern United States in 2020. Our treasured coastal communities are now safeguarded for future generations.”
President Biden used his authority under Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows him to withdraw any unleased areas of the Outer Continental Shelf from future offshore drilling. Previous presidents from both parties have used this authority to withdraw large areas from oil and gas leasing. In 2020, President Trump protected North Carolina through Florida for ten years, but the protections were set to expire in 2032. President Biden’s announcement now permanently protects these areas.
For more information on Oceana’s efforts to prevent the expansion of offshore drilling, please click here.
Background
A poll released by Oceana in July 2024 revealed that two-thirds of American voters (64%) support their elected officials protecting U.S. coastlines from new offshore drilling, with similar support among registered voters in coastal states (66%). The poll also found this support grew among youth voters 18 to 29 years of age (70%).
A 2021 analysis by Oceana found that ending new leasing could prevent more than $720 billion in damage to people, property, and the environment. The oil industry currently holds more than 2,000 leases, according to a 2023 Oceana report, with 75% of that ocean acreage currently unused.
For more information about Oceana’s campaign to prevent the expansion of offshore drilling in the United States, please click here.
