In a significant environmental protection move, President Biden has banned new offshore drilling in over 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters, leveraging the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. This unprecedented action protects regions including the entire East and West Coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and parts of the Bering Sea—an area historically low in oil industry activity but crucial for future expansion. Environmental advocates praise the decision as a step toward clean energy, while industry groups criticize it as harmful to domestic energy production. The incoming Trump administration is anticipated to challenge this executive action, citing potential economic drawbacks.