WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, a last-minute effort to block possible action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling. Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, says he is using authority under federal law 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. Biden said his decision is backed by coastal communities who know that offshore drilling could cause irreversible environmental damage. A spokeswoman for President-elect Donald Trump says the decision will be reversed after Trump takes office Jan. 20.
