According to MiningWeekly, citing Bloomberg, U.S. President-elect Trump announced on Tuesday that he would soon revoke the offshore oil and gas drilling ban imposed by outgoing Democratic President Biden.

“Banning offshore drilling won’t work. I’ll lift this ban immediately,” Trump said at a press conference.

“I will lift the offshore oil and gas drilling ban in large areas on my first day in office.”

　Republican Trump will take office on January 20, but he’ll find it difficult to reverse Biden’s order banning new oil and gas development in 625 million acres (253 million hectares) of offshore waters.

　According to a 2019 court ruling, the 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows the president to revoke mineral rights and drilling permits in certain areas, but does not grant the president the legal authority to overturn previous bans. This means that Congress would need to step in to reverse such bans.

Trump stated that if necessary, he would take this matter to court. Trump also said that after taking office, he would open up oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and would seek to block new wind power projects.

“We’re going to try to put in place a policy that bans the construction of wind farms,” Trump said.