[Photo Credit: by Gage Skidmore]

Trump Press Secretary Demolishes Biden Over Decision to Block Off Shore Drilling

On Friday, incoming Trump Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized President Joe Biden for planning to prohibit new offshore oil and gas developments in certain regions of the U.S. coast “within days,” as reported by Bloomberg.

Biden’s anticipated action is the result of mounting pressure from Democrats and left-wing environmentalists to prohibit offshore drilling prior to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.

“Joe Biden clearly wants high gas prices to be his legacy. 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. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill.” Leavitt said in a new statement.

Trump has pledged to enhance American energy production and facilitate the drilling process for oil and gas companies in U.S. waters and on American soil.

Leavitt declared that Biden’s endeavor to obstruct oil extraction would “fail” upon Trump’s assumption of office.

Bloomberg reported that Biden’s executive order would be predicated on a 1953 law that grants the president the authority to permanently halt offshore oil drilling in U.S. waters.

However, the law does not expressly grant presidents the authority to revoke oil drilling bans enacted by their predecessors.

The “Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act” is a federal law that grants the federal government jurisdiction over the outer continental shelf.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for leasing portions of the submerged land for oil and gas development.

During his inaugural tenure, Trump issued an executive order that revoked the directives of former President Barack Obama to withdraw hundreds of millions of acres of submerged land on the outer continental shelf. Obama’s decision to prohibit offshore extraction was also predicated on the 1953 legislation.

The legal community is divided on the question of whether the 70-year-old law permits presidents to rescind a predecessor’s decision to withdraw land from the outer continental shelf.

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