“A US Circuit Court judge Wednesday lifted an injunction against a federal “pause” on oil and natural gas leasing after a previous enjoinment prevented the ban from going into effect.
Fifth Circuit Court Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham vacated a previous judgment from June 2021 that stopped the federal government from enforcing Section 208 of Executive Order 14008, signed by President Biden on January 21, 2021. The order directed the Secretary of the Interior to “pause new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review,” and was part of the Biden administration’s initial efforts to address the climate crisis.
Thirteen states applied for injunctive relief against Section 208 in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, alleging the pause order was “arbitrary and capricious” and exceeded the Department of the Interior’s authority under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Particular issues in the case were lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Cook Inlet, Alaska.”