On January 6th 2025 President Joe Biden issued two memoranda under the authority granted to the President in section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1341(a) to withdraw several areas of the Outer Continental Shelf from new oil and gas leasing processes.
The withdrawal prevents consideration of withdrawn areas for any future oil or natural gas leasing for purposes of exploration, development,or production. However it does not impact existing licenses. No expiration date is given for the withdrawal.
The memoranda state that the decision was made “with due consideration of the national need to curtail, mitigate, build resilience against, and adapt to the devastating and irreversible consequences of climate change.”
