A federal judge in Louisiana on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration’s temporary ban on new oil and gas leases on federal land.
The ruling: US District Judge Terry Doughty granted a preliminary injunction that he said applies nationwide, according to the Associated Press.
Doughty said that only Congress can pause gas leases and offshore sales and ordered that they resume until the case is resolved. He also agreed that Biden’s moratorium would cause “irreparable injury ” to the states and that the ban was enacted without proper notice or the ability to comment on the policy.
“Millions and possibly billions of dollars are at stake. Local government funding, jobs for Plaintiff State workers, and funds for the restoration of Louisiana’s Coastline are at stake. Plaintiff States have a reliance interest in the proceeds derived from offshore and on land oil and gas lease sales,” the judge wrote.
How we got here: The case stemmed from President Joe Biden’s Jan. 27 moratorium which came amid a series of executive orders, including one that canceled the Keystone Pipeline. The orders directed the secretary of the Interior Department to halt new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters and conduct a review of existing permits for fossil fuel development.
The orders were part of Biden’s effort to prioritize climate change and curb carbon emissions to reduce the U.S. carbon footprint.
13 states challenged the moratorium in Mach, including Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. They argued that the moratorium would be financially devastating to states, that it would cost jobs, and that the administration had circumvented legal requirements, such as comment periods and public notice, before enacting the pause.
Lawyers for the administration claimed that the Secretary of the Interior has the power to make broad leasing decisions and that the lease sales are not legally mandated.
“No existing lease has been cancelled as a result of any of the actions challenged here, and development activity from exploration through drilling and production has continued at similar levels as the preceding four years,” the lawyers claimed.
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