Biden protects Delaware’s coast from offshore drilling

With the clock ticking down on his time in office, President Joe Biden announced Jan. 6 that he has permanently protected more than 625 million acres of the U.S. ocean from offshore drilling.

Delaware’s coastline falls within this ban. In all, the area includes the entire eastern U.S. Atlantic coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico; the Pacific coast along California, Oregon, and Washington; and the remaining portion of the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area in Alaska.

“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,” said Biden in a statement announcing the ban.

This isn’t the first action to protect Delaware’s coastline from offshore drilling. Back in 2018, state legislators passed two bills prohibiting oil and natural gas drilling in state waters.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump banned offshore drilling from North Carolina south to Florida, but that ban was set to expire in 2032. Biden’s ban, which encompasses the same area, has no expiration date.

Nothing in Biden’s ban affects rights under existing leases in the withdrawn areas. There were no existing leases in Delaware waters.

Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon said Biden’s decision is a win for future generations.

“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,” said Gordon. “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.”

Environmental groups may have praised the decision, but some business groups are questioning it. National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito also issued a statement in response to the decision.

“The decision to unilaterally block areas from future offshore oil and gas development is a strategic error, driven not by science or voter mandate, but by political motives. This move directly undermines American energy consumers and jeopardizes the vast benefits tied to a thriving domestic energy sector,” said Milito. “Such moratoriums threaten our economic and national security by creating political barriers to our own resources.”

The recent announcement means that Biden has now conserved more than 670 million acres of U.S. lands, waters, and ocean, which, according to the White House, is more than any president in history.