President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to immediately repeal President Biden’s new ban on offshore drilling along most of the U.S. coast, but faces major obstacles because of a 70-year-old, irrevocable law.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised that if elected, he would expand oil and gas production to bolster U.S.-generated energy.

However, on Monday morning, exactly two weeks before the end of his term, Biden issued an eleventh-hour executive order to forestall such actions, announcing a permanent halt to most new oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal and offshore waters in an area of ​​about 625 million hectares.

“It’s ridiculous. “I’m going to rescind it immediately,” Trump said on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” on Monday. “What is he doing?”

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President-elect Donald Trump said he would “repeat” President Biden’s block on drilling along the coast. (Sarah Meyssonnier)

“We cannot allow this to happen to our country,” Trump added. “It really is our greatest economic asset.”

The executive order, issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), aims to block future oil and natural gas leases along the east and west coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and portions of Alaska’s northern Bering Sea.

Trump said he had the “right” to reverse such a measure, but given that Biden had issued the order based on a 1953 law that allowed the president to impose bans on oil and gas development enacting it, he would not be able to simply reverse it.

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In 2019, during Trump’s first term, a federal judge ruled that the OCSLA does not allow presidents to overturn bans issued by previous administrations. That means Trump would need congressional approval to reverse Biden’s decision.

DCOR LLC’s Edith offshore oil and gas platform (right) and Beta Operating Company LLC’s Eureka oil and gas platform stand at Beta Field off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. (Tim Rue)

Biden said his decision was driven by his efforts to curb climate change – one of dozens of steps on the Democratic president’s green energy agenda.

“My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses and beachgoers have long known: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we care about and that it is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs,” said Biden in a statement. “It’s not worth the risk. As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we transition to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these shores for our children and grandchildren.”

Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also issued a statement criticizing Biden’s order.

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“This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump the mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail and we will drill, baby, drill,” Leavitt said.