Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Sunday he would prevent oil companies from drilling as part of his effort to combat climate change.
"No more subsidies for the fossil fuel industry," he said at the CNN debate. "No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period. Ends."
Biden hasn't called for an all-out ban on oil drilling before, which would have a radical, negative effect on the U.S. energy industry.
His $1.7 trillion climate change plan is dwarfed in spending by the $16.3 trillion proposal by his chief remaining primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).
Biden, confronted by Sanders for not taking dramatic enough steps to combat climate change, also said there would be no "new fracking" and "not another coal plant will be built" under his administration.
The Obama administration, where Biden served as vice president, supported fracking while unsuccessfully pursuing tighter regulation of the practice.
Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is a drilling and extraction method of releasing oil and gas from underground shale rocks. The practice has helped transform the United States into the top oil and natural gas producer in the world and lower carbon emissions.