Legal Insurrection by Leslie Eastman Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Energy Groups Suing Biden Administration for Failing to Hold Mandated Gas and Oil Lease Sales
Meanwhile, slow-walking and game-playing by the administration continue as the next date for any onshore lease sales is currently set for mid-2023.The last time I checked on the Biden administration’s war against the fossil fuel industry, a Louisiana federal judge blocked its ability to unilaterally “pause” oil and gas leasing in 13 states.
Despite the ruling, Biden’s Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been slow-walking the lease sales and using green justice tactics to halt other development.
BLM has conducted some state lease sales. The administration also has advanced more leasing but under more stringent guidelines. Among other things, Interior has scheduled two of three offshore auctions and is eyeing May to begin onshore lease sales in several states.
Meanwhile, a federal plan to auction more than 725,000 acres in 11 Central California counties for drilling was blocked Tuesday by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (No. 3:19-cv-07155-JSC).
The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups had sued BLM to halt new fossil fuel development.
More:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/12/energy-groups-suing-biden-administration-for-failing-to-hold-mandated-gas-and-oil-lease-sales/
