President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday morning that he would reverse outgoing President Joe Biden’s offshore drilling ban protecting 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters.
Trump told conservative news host Hugh Hewitt he will “unban it immediately.”
“I see it just came over that Biden has banned all oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory. It’s ridiculous. I’ll unban it immediately,” Trump told Hewitt.
“What’s he doing? Why is he doing it? We have something that nobody else has — nobody has to the extent we have it — we have oil and gas,” Trump said.
“We have oil and gas to the level that nobody else has and we’re going to take advantage of that … he doesn’t even know what 625 million acres looks like.”
Watch the clip below:
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "I see it just came over that Biden has banned all oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory. It's ridiculous. I'll unban it immediately." pic.twitter.com/mGijm5N6v7
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 6, 2025
Biden announced the ban on Monday in an official statement.
“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,” Biden said. “It is not worth the risks. 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.”
“We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy, or between keeping our ocean healthy, our coastlines resilient, and the food they produce secure and keeping energy prices low,” the statement added. “Those are false choices. Protecting America’s coasts and ocean is the right thing to do, and will help communities and the economy to flourish for generations to come.”
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