(TNND) -- President Joe Biden says he's protecting our coastal communities by banning new offshore drilling on 625 million acres of federal waters.
The White House announced Monday that Biden is using his authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit future oil and natural gas leasing along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska.
"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 in a statement. "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."
President-elect Donald Trump's incoming press secretary was quick to criticize Biden's action.
"This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices," Karoline Leavitt said via X. "Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill."
Earthjustice, an environmental law organization, applauded Biden's move.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade association, decried what it characterized as a "politically motivated decision" and urged Washington to "restore a pro-American energy approach to federal leasing."
Despite the applause and hand-wringing from stakeholders on both sides, experts said American consumers aren't going to feel an impact from this drilling ban in coastal waters.
"Absolutely zero," said Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston.
David Bernell, an expert in energy policy who teaches at Oregon State University, said Biden didn't pull areas off the table that are already producing a lot of oil and gas for the U.S.
"So, the practical impact of this may very well be nothing at all, or very, very little," Bernell said. "And certainly in the short term, it will have nothing, no impact on the price or supply of energy coming out of the United States."
Hirs said the U.S. is the biggest producer and exporter of oil in the world.
American producers are turning in over 13 million barrels of oil a day, including natural gas liquids.
We're producing over 11 million barrels of crude oil a day, but we're not energy independent.
We consume anywhere from 18 to 20 million barrels a day, depending on the season, Hirs said.
Imports range from 4 million to 6 million barrels a day.
And the U.S. imports heavier crude, primarily from Canada, that's required to match up with our refineries, he said.
But freeing up offshore drilling isn't the solution, Hirs said.
Offshore development is more expensive than onshore.
"With the current price of crude oil, it just doesn't make any sense to go reaching out right now and developing areas that are offshore," Hirs said.
Crude oil prices are currently around $73 a barrel.
We have some offshore developments going on, but Hirs said they're in areas where we have known production.
Spending money on offshore oil exploration is a lengthy, costly endeavor.
It can take 10-15 years for a company to develop a productive offshore oil well, he said.
This ban on future oil exploration certainly won't impact what someone's going to pay to fill up their car today, tomorrow or even this year.
"And the areas that Biden is removing, the ones along the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the eastern seaboard, the Atlantic, Trump already removed during his administration," Hirs said. "He had put a 10-year moratorium on them. But now Biden's saying, well, let's do this permanently. Keep in mind that if the big oil companies had thought these were going to be productive areas, they would have been there already."
The quicker way to drive gas prices lower for Americans is to convince OPEC to increase production, Hirs said. It wouldn't take a large increase in production to keep the price down, he said.
"With an additional million barrels a day hitting the market somewhere globally, that will drive the price down domestically here in the U.S." Hirs said.
Trump takes office in two weeks, and Bernell said he can overturn Biden's prohibition despite some obstacles.
"What's interesting about this law is that it doesn't have a mechanism that says presidents can also undo this and open up the land. ... Now, this doesn't mean that Biden has tied the hands of Trump or the incoming Congress. They have options at their disposal," Bernell said.
Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress could try and change the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to give Trump the power to open up those federal waters to oil and gas leasing.
But Senate Democrats could potentially stop that effort through a filibuster.
A more viable option might be to connect the offshore federal leases to a budget reconciliation bill that would only need a simple majority to pass.
Or Trump could try and test the extent of his executive powers with reversal orders that he knows are likely to get challenged in court.
But, like Hirs, Bernell said any such effort would be more political than practical for the American consumer.
Bernell said there are other places where companies can more readily develop oil and gas production within the U.S.