A federal judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration from pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land, the Wall Street Journal reported. Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court in Monroe said the administration doesn’t have the legal right to stop leasing federal territory for oil-and-gas production without approval from Congress. The judge, appointed by former President Donald Trump, also said that states suing the federal government — largely southern and coastal states — will be harmed immediately as the pause prevents them from collecting lease bids and bonuses from oil-and-gas prospectors. The suit was filed by the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. Biden, during his first week in office, directed the Interior Department to suspend the program, among several new initiatives aimed at addressing climate change. The Interior Department said it would comply with yesterday’s order, but said that it would continue a review of current leasing and permitting practices. Biden had requested that assessment as part of his January order to suspend the federal oil-and-gas program.
