Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Biden’s climate crusade: Oil and gas drilling BANNED on federal land in new round of executive orders

Biden’s climate crusade: Oil and gas drilling BANNED on federal land in new round of executive orders

President Joe Biden has signed more climate-focused executive orders. Among them are directives setting climate change as a national security priority, and imposing a controversial ban on fossil fuel drilling on federal land.

Biden’s latest round of executive orders come after a record-breaking 40 presidential decrees during his first week in office. After day-one orders signing the US back up to the Paris climate agreement and cancelling the completion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, Biden’s latest round of orders, signed on Wednesday, again focus on the environment.


A broad order titled “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” instructs the government to consider climate change a national security and foreign policy issue. This order comes after Biden tapped former Secretary of State John Kerry as his Presidential Envoy for Climate, a newly created position on the National Security Council.

The order sets the date of a planned summit for world leaders on climate change for April 22. It starts the process of setting out the US’ Paris agreement emissions targets, instructs federal agencies to purchase clean energy and electric vehicles, and commits the government to the goal of conserving at least 30 percent of “our” land and oceans by 2030.

More controversially, the order makes permanent a temporary pause on new oil and gas drilling permits on federal land. When reports of this directive surfaced earlier this week, Republicans, energy companies and labor unions responded with anger, claiming that the move would cost many jobs, threaten the US’ energy independence, and deprive states of billions of dollars in royalty money.

Another passage in the order asks the government to “prioritize environmental justice” and route 40 precent of relevant federal investment to “disadvantaged communities.” The notion of “environmental justice” was slated by conservatives when it first appeared in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ ‘Green New Deal’ legislation in 2019, with critics claiming it would lead to massive socialist-style wealth redistribution.

Biden’s second order of the day re-establishes the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, first convened by George W. Bush in 2001 and re-chartered by Barack Obama in 2010 and Donald Trump in 2019. Under Biden, the council will advise the president on topics from public health to “racial equity.”

Finally, Biden issued a memorandum tasking federal agencies with making “evidence-based decisions guided by the best available science and data,” and appointing a Chief Science Officer to each of these agencies to ensure compliance. Though its wording is nebulous, the memo seems to legally enshrine Biden’s equally vague campaign-trail commitment to “trust the science.”

Biden – who back in October declared ruling by executive order the mark of a “dictator” – has proven himself able and willing to flex the power of the presidency in his opening week in office. However, his core climate promise, a $2-trillion investment in green energy and infrastructure that mirrors many of the proposals of the ‘Green New Deal,’ will need to pass Congress, and even with both houses under Democrat control, could be filibustered by Republicans without a two-thirds majority.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×