A day after calling time on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the new President has suspended new drilling on federal land.

Building of the controversial, cross-border conduit that was first proposed more than a decade ago was authorised by President Donald Trump in 2017, just over a year after President Barack Obama rejected the project on environmental grounds.
Alberta, home to the worlds third-largest oil reserves, viewed the line as essential for delivering its heavy crude to US refineries at a time when alternative supplies from Latin America were dwindling. Environmentalists argued that the pipeline would stimulate expansion of carbon-intensive oil sands production, worsening global warming.
The premier of the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta called Mr Bidens decision an insult and said the federal Canadian government should impose trade sanctions if it is not reversed.
The suspension on Thursday did not ban new oil and gas drilling outright. It includes an exception giving a small number of senior Interior officials the secretary, deputy secretary, solicitor and several assistant secretaries authority to approve actions that otherwise would be suspended.
The order also applies to coal leases and permits, and blocks the approval of new mining plans. Land sales and exchanges and the hiring of senior-level staff at the agency also were suspended.
Under Mr Trump, federal agencies prioritised energy development and eased environmental rules to speed up drilling permits as part of the Republicans goal to boost fossil fuel production. Mr Trump consistently downplayed the dangers of climate change, which Mr Biden has made a top priority.
Erik Milito of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore energy firms, said he was optimistic companies still will be able to get new permits approved through the senior-level officials specified in the order.
But Mr Bidens move could be the first step in an eventual goal to ban all leases and permits to drill on federal land. Mineral leasing laws state that federal lands are for many uses, including extracting oil and gas, but the Democrat could set out to rewrite those laws, according to Kevin Book, managing director at Clearview Energy Partners.
The administrations announcement drew outrage from Republicans and some industry trade groups. They said limiting access to publicly owned energy resources would mean more foreign oil imports, lost jobs and fewer tax revenues.
Republican senator John Barrasso of Wyoming said the administration was off to a divisive and disastrous start. He added the government was legally obliged to act on all drilling permit applications it received and said that staff memos could not override the law.
Impeding American energy will only serve to hurt local communities and hamper Americas economic recovery, American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers said in a statement.
National Wildlife Federation Vice President Tracy Stone-Manning said she expected Mr Biden to make good on his campaign promise to end leasing altogether, or at least impose a long-term moratorium on any new issuances.
The Biden administration has made a commitment to driving down carbon emissions. It makes sense starting with the land that we all own, she said. We have 24 million acres already under lease. That should get us through.
Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual US production. Extracting and burning those fuels generates the equivalent of almost 550 million tons (500 metric tons) of greenhouse gases annually, the US Geological Survey said in a 2018 study.
Under Mr Trump, Interior officials approved almost 1400 permits on federal lands, primarily in Wyoming and New Mexico, over a three-month period that included the election, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data. Those permits, which remain valid, will allow companies to continue drilling for years, potentially undercutting Bidens climate agenda.
But there are other ways an ambitious Biden administration could make it harder for permit holders to extract oil and gas. The ability to get your resources out, to get right of way, to get roads, to get supporting infrastructure, not all of that is signed and sealed right now, Clearview Energys Book said.
Under President Barack Obama, the Interior Department imposed a 2016 moratorium on federal coal leases while it investigated the coal programs climate effects and whether companies were paying a fair share for coal from public lands. Mr Trump lifted the moratorium soon after taking office.
AP