Republican Rep. Jody Arrington and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) on Wednesday proposed a new bill that would override President Joe Biden's lame-duck decision to ban future offshore oil and gas leases in large swaths of the U.S. ocean. submitted.
Arrington and Cruz each invoice They held arguments in their respective chambers to override Biden's Jan. 6 designation of 625 million acres of offshore territory as off-limits to future oil and gas activity. white house boasted While arguing that the conservation efforts solidified Biden's legacy on climate change and energy policy, critics, including President-elect Donald Trump, said the action was inappropriate and offensive and that Trump They characterized it as intended to disrupt the president's “drill, baby, drill” policy.
Specifically, the bill would ensure that even if passed and enacted, Biden's public declarations would have “no force or effect.” The area covered by Biden's conservation order includes vast swathes of water off the East and West Coasts, as well as parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Bering Sea off Alaska. (Related: Exclusive: Republican lawmakers pressure lame-duck Biden energy department for answers on crackdown on large-scale offshore drilling)
I have never seen an outgoing president have so much contempt for the American people.
Biden knows voters gave Trump a clear mandate to unlock America's energy, but Trump just halted millions of acres of offshore drilling. pic.twitter.com/4Yot6dnDGo
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 7, 2025
“President Biden ended four years of self-inflicted disaster by continuing an all-out assault on domestic energy production in the final hours of his presidency,” Arrington said in a statement about the bill. “Banning oil and gas production in millions of acres of offshore waters would directly target U.S. energy producers, threaten national security, and empower adversaries like Russia. , all just to take a final bow to the woke climate-obsessed mob. Senator Cruz and I will repeal this dangerous policy, unleash America's energy, and President Trump's America First agenda. We’re fighting to make sure we move forward from day one.”
President Trump has vowed to voluntarily reverse Biden's actions after taking office next week, given that the law Biden invoked does not explicitly give the president the power to revoke previous designations. Experts are divided on whether President Trump has the legal authority to do so. Some analysts, like Daren Bakst of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, claimed This bill is likely the best answer to Biden's offshore drilling ban.
“President Biden's ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling is an attack on America's energy independence, jobs, and national security,” Cruz said in a statement. “His actions are a gift to our adversaries and reaffirm that this president is prioritizing green special interests over the lives of American energy workers. Today, I am announcing this executive order. Under President Trump, we achieved energy supremacy and I am committed to leading the fight to restore it and protect Texas jobs. Masu.”
The offshore leasing ban was one of several major policy decisions made by the Biden administration between the 2024 election and President Trump's inauguration. Others include issuing a full pardon for Hunter Biden, commuting the sentence of a murderer on federal death row, finalizing a huge loan package for green energy companies, and imposing new sanctions on Russia's energy sector.
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