This week, in the waning days of his administration, President Biden announced he would use his authority under Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently withdraw 625 million acres from leasing for oil and gas drilling and exploration off our nation’s coasts. The protected waters include the entire eastern Atlantic coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific coast of California, Oregon, and Washington, and portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska.