Biden takes action to prohibit oil drilling on Atlantic, Pacific coasts and Gulf

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden on Monday announced plans to prohibit offshore drilling in the U.S. East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean off the shores of California, Oregon, and Washington.

The White House said Biden made the move, which prohibits all new future oil and natural gas leasing in the areas, to protect coastal communities, marine ecosystems and local economies from the potential of oil spills and other impacts of offshore drilling. Nearly 40% of the U.S. population lives in the newly protected coastal communities.

The action also protects 44 million acres of the Northern Bering Sea up to the far northwest Alaska region.

"That drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet the nation's energy needs," Biden said in a statement. "It is not worth the risk.

"As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren."

The White House said that including the latest action by Biden, the president has conserved more land and water than any other president in history.

"From California to Florida, Republican and Democrat governors, members of Congress, and coastal communities alike have worked and called for greater protection of our ocean and coastlines from harms that offshore oil and natural gas drilling can bring," Biden said.