Biden bans offshore drilling in coastal waters ahead of Trump's return

President Joe Biden is taking the action under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which gives the federal government authority over the exploitation of offshore resources. Picture: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

US president Joe Biden has banned offshore drilling across an immense area of coastal waters, weeks before Donald Trump takes office pledging to massively increase fossil fuel production.

The ban encompasses the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon, and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska.