Leaders in Louisiana’s oil and gas industry are praising a recent court ruling that halts President Biden’s ban on lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, but they warn the legal battle is likely not over, reports The Center Square.
A federal judge last month issued a permanent injunction against the Biden administration’s moratorium on new oil and gas leases for federal lands and waters, ruling the president exceeded his authority when he issued an executive order in January 2021.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and 12 other plaintiff states alleging Biden’s executive violated the Mineral Leasing Act and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty issued a permanent injunction in the case on Aug. 18, agreeing with Landry that Biden’s executive order is “beyond the authority of the President of the United States.
“Even the President cannot make significant changes to the OCSLA and/or the MLA that Congress did not delegate,” Doughty wrote.
Mike Moncla, president of the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, hailed the decision as “a huge win for domestic energy production in the Gulf of Mexico” and a blow to Biden’s “declared war on the oil and gas industry.” Read the entire story.
