For years, President-elect Donald Trump has made promoting energy independence an important part of his election platform.

Yet in a desperate tactic, President Joe Biden is now attempting to stymie that effort on his way out the door. 

New limits to be set on Alaska drilling leases

According to Breitbart, Biden moved on Wednesday to "narrow" the scope of oil and gas lease sales in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Washington Post reported that this is an example of "how the Biden administration is racing to cement its environmental legacy mere hours after Trump secured a second term."

At issue is the sale of two drilling leases which was authorized by the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," a piece of legislation that Trump signed in 2017.

Although the Interior Department auctioned off the first lease in the final weeks of 2021, the sale of that lease was subsequently suspended and then canceled by the Biden administration due to "insufficient analysis" being done on its environmental impact.

Proposal would limit lease size to just 400,000 acres

This week saw the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management release an environmental impact statement that laid out several options for how the second lease is to be handled.

The impact statement's "preferred" option involves making only 400,000 acres available to be leased, which is the bare minimum amount of land that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act requires.

What's more, the preferred option also demands that steps be taken to avoid interfering with habitat for polar bears and the Porcupine caribou herd.

The Post noted that Trump has frequently articulated a desire to see expanded energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Trump pledged that he will get drilling in the Arctic "going very quickly"

One example came in August when Trump had an interview with social media mogul Elon Musk, stating, "I'll get it going very quickly."

"Because not only is it big for Alaska," the then-Republican nominee declared before adding, "I mean, you talk about economic development."

"That for the United States, I mean, that is, they say, bigger than Saudi Arabia or the same size, and pure, really good stuff," he insisted.

Trump's approach to energy production will be a major departure from that of his predecessor, as figures published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in March of 2022 showed a sharp drop in approvals for drilling on public land since Biden took office.