Biden cuts back on oil drilling

President Joe Biden has placed a limitation on oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 

Just the News reports that Biden did so on Wednesday.

Per the outlet:

The Biden administration is seeking to limit oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, releasing a plan on Wednesday shortly after President-elect Trump's victory in the presidential race.

Many are viewing this as the Biden administration's way of trying to sneak some things in before they have to vacate the Oval Office.

Background

CNN provides the relevant background of this situation.

The outlet reports:

Oil drilling had been banned for decades in the Arctic refuge — a pristine natural region in northeast Alaska home to a wide range of threatened species. But a law passed during the first Trump administration required the federal government to hold two lease sales there for fossil fuel drilling. The first was in 2021 and was ultimately suspended and canceled by the Interior Department because of the lack of interest from the oil industry. The Trump-era law required the second lease sale to be held before the end of 2024.

The end of 2024 is, of course, upon us, which means that the government has to move forward with the lease sale. The Biden administration, begrudgingly, is.

"The Biden administration signaled Wednesday it plans to move forward with a 400,000-acre auction — the lowest acreage it could legally offer," CNN reports.

It adds, "It’s one of the many ways the White House and administration are trying to protect some of Biden’s biggest accomplishments while president, including his vast portfolio of action on climate change and the environment."

Time is almost up

There are only about two months before Trump gets sworn in as the next president of the United States and the Biden-Harris administration have to vacate the White House.

It is expected that the administration's policies regarding oil drilling will not last much longer than that.

Trump and his allies have made it clear that they intend to "drill, baby, drill," once he takes over.

Left-wing so-called news outlets have responded with fearmongering, claiming that, if Trump does go ahead with this plan, then it can harm the environment by exacerbating climate change.

Trump and his fellow Republicans, however, have made it clear that they will not be stopped by this climate change narrative, which they dispute the accuracy of. It is expected that allowing more oil drilling will be one of Trump's first actions as president.