President Joe Biden raised eyebrows this week when he signed a sweeping executive order which prohibits drilling in more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters.

Yet in a humiliating move, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to reverse that decision on his first day in office. 

Trump: "Banning offshore drilling will not stand"

According to Reuters, Trump made that announcement while speaking with reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.

Trump Says He'll Revoke Offshore Drilling Ban on 'Day One' pic.twitter.com/eAkC6ouJaG

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"Banning offshore drilling will not stand. I will reverse it immediately," the president-elect declared. "I will revoke the offshore oil, gas drilling ban in vast areas on day one."

However, Reuters noted that Trump's plan could be impeded by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, a law which was passed in 1953.

Judge ruled in 2019 that similar Obama order could not be reversed

Although the legislation permits a president to make land off-limits to oil and gas drilling, Alaska Federal District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled in 2019 that it does not allow for such decisions to be unilaterally reversed.

That decision came after Trump's first administration attempted to reverse similar executive orders signed by former President Barack Obama.

During Tuesday's press conference, Trump said he would renew his efforts to repeal Obama's executive order and limit the construction of windmills on federal land, saying, "We're going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built."

Reuters pointed out that the president-elect may ultimately require an act of Congress in order to make good on his goals.

Biden says off-shore drilling "is not worth the risks"

Fox News reported that Biden justified his decision to restrict energy development on the grounds that "[i]t is not worth the risks."

"My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs," Biden said in a statement.

"As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren," he added.

Those words were met with a statement from Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who asserted, "This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices."