Biden Administration fights judge’s order over lease ban

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The lawsuit filed by Oklahoma and several other oil and gas states that resulted in a Louisiana-based federal judge blocking the government’s indefinite pause on oil and natural gas leasing in federal lands and waters is being challenged by the Biden administration.

The Justice Department appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit according to a statement on Monday by the Interior Department. While the appeal is being made, the Department said it will comply with the preliminary nationwide injunction against its leasing pause granted in June to Oklahoma and nearly a dozen other oil and gas producing states.

However, the Interior Department also said it will continue leasing in a way in which it considers the “deficiencies” in the government’s leasing program.

Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction on June 15 halting the administration’s ban on new oil and gas leases on federal public lands. His order had a nationwide application.

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