Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling May Return, Vigilance is Key
October 1, 2025
January 6, 2025, was a great day for the ocean. President Joe Biden signed two Presidential Memoranda banning offshore oil and gas development along most of the U.S. coast, including the entire east and west coast. It is the largest such ban in the world, marking a historic day for our ocean and coastal communities. This action is powerful and would require an act of Congress or Supreme Court ruling to rescind the ban. As such, these areas are not included in any new leasing schedules for offshore oil and gas development.
Unfortunately, President Trump is hard at work seeking to just that, overturn the ban. Since his first presidency, Donald Trump has enthusiastically promoted for offshore oil drilling in US waters. Trump 1.0 opened 90% of US waters to drilling. On the first day of his 2nd administration, as promised, U.S. President Trump signed Executive Order (EO)14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” focused on expanding domestic energy production to “encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf.”
Additionally, on January 28, President Trump signed EO 14148 titled “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.” Part of this order seeks to revoke Biden’s January 6, 2025, memorandum permanently banning these activities in a large portion of US waters. However, the areas protected by this ban have not been leased for drilling and there is litigation challenging this revocation claiming Trump would need an act of congress to change President Bidens withdraw. There is precedent for this as similar attempts were made by the Trump administration during his first term to reverse protections enacted by President Barack Obama were blocked by courts. Courts ruled that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows presidents to withdraw areas from leasing but does not explicitly grant the authority to revoke those protections.
To be clear, President Trump has acted outside of his legal authority. It appears he knows that, as he has not pursued drilling in these areas.
However, regrettably, the Biden ban left a few areas of ocean open to continued drilling off Alaska and in the Gulf except off Florida. The Trump Administration quickly moved to expand drilling in these areas, opening millions of ocean acres. On August 19, 2025, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a leasing schedule for offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf and Alaska’s Cook Inlet, as directed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). This dictates a minimum of 30 lease sales in the Gulf and six lease sales in Cook Inlet through 2040. The first sale is set to take place in December of 2025.
For over 40 years, Clean Ocean Action has led campaigns in New Jersey uniting the vast majority of people, organizations, and businesses to vigilantly oppose offshore drilling. This has maintained near unanimous, unwavering, bi-partisan opposition to drilling by elected officials at all levels of government. Clean Ocean Action will continue to build on our four decades of nonpartisan opposition to fight against the opening of the ocean to oil and gas activities.
To help, support the Clean Ocean Zone, find out more here
January 6, 2025
Breaking News: Monumental Victory for the Ocean
President Biden Signs Executive Order Permanently Banning Offshore Drilling off NY/NJ
On January 6, 2025, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order permanently banning offshore oil and gas development along the U.S. coast, including the waters off New Jersey and New York, marking a historic day for our ocean and coastal communities.
For over 40 years, Clean Ocean Action (COA) has spearheaded the fight against offshore drilling, uniting New Jerseyans from all walks of life in a shared mission to protect our ocean. This momentous victory is a testament to decades of relentless advocacy, unwavering community support, and bipartisan leadership at both the state and federal levels.
“Today is a monumental victory for the ocean!! For over 40 years, Clean Ocean Action led New Jerseyans from all walks of life to call for an end to offshore drilling and today, with a stroke of President Biden’s pen, it is done! This marks the day we can finally retire all of those heartbreaking posters highlighting the horrific impacts from offshore drilling! Waves of gratitude to Representative Frank Pallone for his leadership in opposition to offshore drilling over the past four decades, as well as the near unanimous, unwavering, bi-partisan support of the entire federal and state New Jersey delegations. At the heart of this are the thousands of citizens who rallied and raised their voices to the call for the ocean— because oil and water can never mix,” said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director, Clean Ocean Action. "This is a victory for marine life, for clean water, and for the generations who will inherit a protected and thriving ocean."
A Legacy of Bipartisan Support
This achievement would not have been possible without the near-unanimous, bipartisan support of New Jersey’s federal and state leaders. From Governor Tom Kean (R) to Governor Phil Murphy (D), from Congressman Frank Pallone (D) to Congressman Jim Saxton (R), and Senators Cory Booker (D) and Bob Menendez (D), the fight to protect our coastal waters transcended party lines.
The Work is Not Done
While this ban safeguards our coast from new oil and gas development, our work is far from over. COA is evaluating the E.O. to ensure its strength and the protection of the ocean.
Thank You to the Community
This day belongs to the thousands of citizens who rallied, signed petitions, attended press conferences, and stood unwavering in their commitment to the ocean. It is your voices, amplified through campaigns and actions, that made this victory possible.
As we celebrate this monumental achievement, we invite everyone to stay tuned for upcoming events to honor and reflect on this milestone together! See the photos below from campaigns, action events, and press conferences held to stop offshore oil and gas drilling over the past 4 decades!
Past Actions & Campaigns to Stop Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Drilling
On January 4th, 2018, the Trump Administration declared war on the shore when Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke announced the next phase of President Trump’s new 5-year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The plan includes opening the entire Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida for drilling including all of the Jersey Shore and NY’s South Shore and would allow rigs to come within 3 miles of beaches.
THANK YOU for your incredible efforts in 2018 to oppose the 2019-2024 Draft Proposed Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program with over 1,670,314 comments submitted! The fight is not over. We are expecting the final release of the plan to released in early 2019. Stay tuned.
To learn more about the Trump Administration's agenda and OCS oil and gas exploration check out the OCS Oil and Gas Factsheet.
Coastal States Band Together to Stop OCS Drilling and Exploration!
In a wave of bipartisan opposition, coastal states and federal representatives have introduced and passed bills to oppose offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration in the country's oceans. Such bills prevent the construction of oil and gas exploration and drilling infrastructure in state waters. Additionally, ten states on the east coast brought suit to the federal government to prevent any drilling and exploration in the Atlantic Ocean.
Click image to enlarge.
The map above illustrates the states that participated in legislative and legal moves to prevent fossil fuel exploration in our nation's oceans. To learn more about those actions view the OCS Ban Legislation Chart!
New Jersey Signed Legislation to Ban OCS Oil and Gas Exploration and Drilling in State Waters
On the 8th Anniversary of the worst oil spill in history, the tragic Deep Water Horizon/BP Oil Spill Disaster, NJ Governor Murphy signed into law the STOP – Offshore Oil and Gas Act. It is the strongest state law in the country against the offshore oil and gas industry, and passed with near unanimous\bi-partisan support from the NJ legislature. It also affirms the importance of the ocean to the state’s economy and psyche—from High Point to Cape May Point, most agree—the Jersey Shore is a Clean Ocean Zone and a no-go zone for ocean industrialization
