Biden Locks Up Oil and Throws Away the Key with Lame-Duck Restrictions

Public Policy & Regulation attorney Jason Hill was interviewed by The Federalist about President Joe Biden's executive order banning new oil and gas projects in federal waters. Relying on the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Biden's order covers 625 million acres of ocean across the East and West Coasts, Gulf of Mexico and Bering Sea. President-Elect Donald Trump responded to the move by stating his intention to "unban it immediately"; however, industry professionals, say, doing so might prove trickier than anticipated, as though the law gives presidents wide discretion to protect waters from oil and gas leases, it does not explicitly give them the authority to undo said protections. Mr. Hill said he did not think the issue has been fully resolved by the courts and that preventing development from an area as large as that affected by Biden's order "certainly not what was contemplated by Congress." What happens next remains unclear, he added, given that the issue implicates a larger discussion on how to approach and regulate the country's oil and gas industry.

"[Biden's executive order] signals a broader political policy debate over offshore development and oil and gas development in general," he said.

READ: Biden Locks Up Oil and Throws Away the Key with Lame-Duck Restrictions