Drillers Fail To Reverse Biden Pause on New Leases in Wyoming

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The US Interior Department acted within its authority when it temporarily stopped issuing new new oil and gas leases in Wyoming last year, a federal judge ruled.US District Judge Scott Skavdahl said in a ruling Friday that the department’s decision was “not whimsical, unreasonable or unworthy of belief” given the agency’s concern about the adequacy of previous environmental studies.The Interior Department ordered a pause on new oil and gas leases on federal land in January 2021, acting on a campaign promise by newly sworn-in President Joe Biden. The announced purpose of the pause was to reassess the effects on the environment and global warming of new drilling impact, including on global warming.

Western Energy Alliance, a group of 200 energy companies, filed the Wyoming lawsuit the same day Biden issued an executive order authorizing the pause.

An alliance spokesman said in an email the group is reviewing Friday’s ruling and plans to appeal.

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“This welcome decision affirms that the Biden administration has wide latitude to rein in federal fossil fuels,” said Taylor McKinnon with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Allowing any new fossil fuel projects, including oil and gas leasing, will make it harder to avoid the worst effects of catastrophic climate change.”

In mid-August, a federal judge in Louisiana issued a permanent injunction invalidating the pause in 13 Republican-led states that had sued the Biden administration. Wyoming wasn’t among them.

The case is Western Energy Alliance v. Biden et al, 21-CV-13, U.S. District Court, District of Wyoming (Cheyenne).