AUSTIN – Attorney General Paxton announced that a district judge has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on the Biden Administration’s oil and gas leasing moratorium, which intended to put a pause on the sale of new oil and gas leases on federal public lands and offshore waters by an executive order issued January 27, 2021.
The executive order was a clear violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and the Mineral Leasing Act. The moratorium would have cost millions, possibly billions, of dollars for oil and gas workers, state and local government funding, and funds for the restoration of state coastlines, the news release from Paxton’s office states.
“I am pleased that the court recognized this federal overreach and worked promptly to end the implementation of this ill-advised moratorium that would harm the U.S. economy and cost many their livelihoods,” AG Paxton was quoted in the release “President Biden does not have the authority to revise Congressionally-mandated statutes on a political whim. Alongside Louisiana, and the eleven other states who joined our cause, we will continue to challenge any unconstitutional executive orders that this Administration tries to implement.”
Read the Judge’s Ruling here.
According to the judge’s order signed June 15 by Judge Terry A. Doughty, US District Court Judge for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division, the plaintiffs ( the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia) allege President Biden and the government defendants “violated provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act),” entitling the states to a preliminary injunction.
The 44-page court order states states that the preliminary injunction shall remain in effect pending the final resolution of the case, or until further orders from this Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, or the United States Supreme Court.
