Category: Administration

Joe Biden Announces Major Offshore Drilling Ban Across 625M Acres Of Federal Waters Ahead Of Trump Admin.

US President Joe Biden arrives to speak at a reception for new Democratic members of Congress at the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 5, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden arrives to speak at a reception for new Democratic members of Congress at the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 5, 2025. (Photo by CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
9:32 AM – Monday, January 6, 2025

President Joe Biden announced an executive action on Monday that bans new drilling and further oil and natural gas development on more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters. 

Biden stated that he is using his power to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. 

He used the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which means that President-elect Donald Trump would be limited in his ability to revoke the action made by Biden. Congress would have to possibly intervene to grant Trump the authority to overturn it. 

“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 as we transition to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.” 

The move garnered quick condemnation from Trump’s incoming White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt. 

“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 wrote on X. 

Biden gave himself credit for what he called a legacy move in the fight against climate change. 

“From Day One, I have delivered on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in our country’s history. And over the last four years, I have conserved more than 670 million acres of America’s lands and waters, more than any other president in history,” Biden said. “Our country’s remarkable conservation and restoration progress has been locally led by Tribes, farmers and ranchers, fishermen, small businesses, and outdoor recreation enthusiasts across the country. Together, our ‘America the Beautiful’ initiative put the United States on track to meet my ambitious goal to conserve at least 30 percent of our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030.”  

“We do not have to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy, or between keeping our oceans 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 oceans is the right thing to do, and will help communities and the economy flourish for generations to come.”

Ron Neal, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s Offshore Committee, also slammed Biden’s last-ditch offshore drilling ban as “significant and catastrophic.” 

“While it may not directly affect the currently active production areas in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and adjoining coastal areas, it represents a major attack on the oil and natural gas industry. This should be seen as the ‘elephant’s nose under the tent.’ The ban severely limits the potential for exploration and development in new areas, therefore choking the long-term survivability of the industry,” Neal, also the president of Houston Energy LP and CEO of HEQ Deepwater, said in a statement. “This move is a first step towards more extensive restrictions across our industry in all U.S. basins, including the onshore. If the activists are coming for anything, they are coming for everything. This policy is catastrophic for the development of new areas for oil and natural gas, but environmentalists will eventually look to also shut down offshore wind farms for most of the same reasons. President Biden and his allies continue to push anti-energy policies that will hurt Americans.” 

Throughout his 2024 campaign, Trump has vowed to deliver American “energy dominance” on the world stage as he looked toward bolstering U.S. oil and gas drilling, as well as distance from Biden’s prioritization of climate change initiatives. 

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Pam Bondi: Biden Administration Will Only “Build the Bidens Back Better”

Florida’s former Attorney General, and now President-Elect Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General, Pam Bondi mocked Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” economic proposal back in 2020, claiming during her speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) that given Joe Biden’s history, the plan was more likely to “build the Bidens back better.”

Trump Selects Lee Zeldin As EPA Administrator

New York Rupublican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin waves to supporters at his election night party on November 8, 2022 in New York City. Despite multiple outlets calling the race for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Zeldin did not concede in his speech. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
New York Rupublican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin waves to supporters at his election night party on November 8, 2022 in New York City. Despite multiple outlets calling the race for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Zeldin did not concede in his speech. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
5:17 PM – Monday, November 11, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/trump-selects-lee-zeldin-as-epa-administrator/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The new GOP president-elect has selected former Republican Representative Lee Zeldin to serve as EPA administrator in his new cabinet.

On Monday, Zeldin (R-N.Y.), a Donald Trump loyalist, announced on X (Twitter) that he will be joining Trump’s cabinet as the new EPA administrator.

“It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator. We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” Zeldin said in a social media post.

Trump also said in a statement that Zeldin “has been a true fighter for America First politics.”

“He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said. “He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”

Zeldin left congress in 2023. He often spoke about certain issues related to today’s U.S. military, national security, antisemitism, U.S.-Israel relations, illegal immigration, and crime both on behalf of Trump and in his own campaign.

He also pushed to change the designation of approximately 150 square miles of federal waters in Long Island Sound to state jurisdiction for New York and Rhode Island in 2016.

When Trump insisted he could compete in his Democrat-voting home state, he frequently cited Zeldin’s performance in the 2022 gubernatorial contest, where the Republican performed significantly better than anticipated against Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y).

Trump performed much better than he had in prior elections, especially in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, even though he did not win New York.

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Biden-Harris Admin Announces Over $8B In Additional Aid For Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with US President Joe Biden during an event with world leaders launching a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:28 PM – Thursday, September 26, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-harris-admin-announces-over-8b-in-additional-aid-for-ukraine/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

After President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent visit to Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that more than $8 billion in military aid would be provided to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The first delivery of the Joint Standoff Weapon, a precision-guided glide bomb with a maximum range of 81 miles, will be one of the many expensive explosives provided as part of the aid. With the medium-range missile, Ukraine can try to strike Russian forces at “safer ranges,” and it significantly improves its arsenal of weaponry.

“Biden will not announce that Washington would let Ukraine use U.S. missiles to hit targets deeper in Russia," a U.S. official said,” according to Reuters.

“We’re making clear that we stand with Ukraine now and in the future,” Biden told reporters ahead of a bilateral meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office. He said the U.S. would continue to help Ukraine strengthen its position on the battlefield, and that he had directed the Pentagon to allocate all remaining security funding by the end of his term in January.

Zelenskyy praised Biden for his decision to give Ukraine even more assistance, and he emphasized the need to secure Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.

At least $5.5 billion of the extra aid will be disbursed before the financing authority expires on Monday, the last day of the U.S. fiscal year. Under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, an additional $2.4 billion is available, enabling the administration to purchase more weapons for Ukraine from companies.

According to Biden, this will boost Ukraine’s defense industrial base, support its maintenance and sustainment needs, and give it more air defense, unmanned aerial systems, as well as air-to-ground weapons.

The president also stated that his proposal also calls for the Defense Department to repair and supply Ukraine with more Patriot missiles and an extra Patriot air defense battery.

In order to boost training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, Biden directed the Pentagon to support U.S.-funded training of at least 18 pilots in the upcoming year.

“I am grateful to the United States for providing the items that are most critical to protecting our people,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter, noting the Patriot battery, the large number of drones, and other long-range missiles.

At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump expressed his own feelings regarding the continued U.S. funding of billions of dollars to Ukraine.

“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskyy,” Trump reminded the crowd.

Time Magazine and the BBC outlet also had some discouraging words to say about Ukraine’s war efforts.

“U.S. officials also need to recognize that even if this aid continues, there is no realistic chance of a total Ukrainian victory next year, or the year after that. Even if the Ukrainians can build up their forces, Russia can deepen its defenses even more,” Time Magazine reported.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that: “the former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command has warned that Ukraine could face defeat by Russia in 2024.”

According to AllSides’ Political Bias Meter, the BBC lands “center-left,” while Time Magazine leans fully “left” politically.

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