The lawsuit challenging President Biden’s executive order pausing new oil and gas leasing on public lands, one that Oklahoma is a part of, asked a Louisiana district court this week to issue a preliminary injunction against the order.
“Because this so-called ‘pause’ alters potential lessees’ right to participate in sales—and Plaintiff States’ entitlement to proceeds from lease sales under [the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act] and the Five-Year Program—it is a substantive rule that cannot be imposed by fiat, but must be promulgated following the APA’s notice-and-comment procedures,” the states wrote. Industry groups are suing separately in Wyoming but have not yet asked that court to block Biden’s order.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunt was one of 14 Republican attorneys general who filed suit in March.
Fourteen states filed suit on Wednesday against President Joe Biden’s moratorium on new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters.
The states in Louisiana’s suit are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. Wyoming filed a separate lawsuit
Biden’s order on Jan. 27 to pause new leasing was part of a series of executive actions to address climate change and transition the economy away from fossil fuel production and toward clean energy.
Source: POLITICO