Recently, a federal judge delivered a devastating blow to the Biden administration’s effort to scale back oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The Department of the Interior had previously moved to reduce the area permitting offshore oil leases by roughly 6 million acres.
U.S. District Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction, claiming the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s initiative was procedurally invalid. Cain’s injunction stated that the was essentially a “weaponization” of policy.
“The process followed here looks more like a weaponization of the Endangered Species Act than the collaborative, reasoned approach prescribed by the applicable laws and regulations,” Cain stated in the injunction. “Even when an agency’s decision is based on political considerations, it is not excused from justifying the position—particularly when the decision is a pivot from a prior policy,” the federal judge added that “failure to do so leads to ‘surprise switcheroo’ by an agency against regulated entities.”
Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, addressed the Biden administration order, claiming it was an “unnecessary decision.” Milito claimed the policy stance was restrictive toward his industry on principles not rooted in sound legal theory or science.
“The injunction is a necessary and welcome response from the court to an unnecessary decision by the Biden administration,” Milito said about the order. “The removal of millions of highly prospective acres and the imposition of excessive restrictions stemmed from a voluntary agreement with activist groups that circumvented the law, ignored science, and bypassed public input.”
The Biden Administration has been clear that its goal is to transition away from fossil fuels to a green energy economy. Last year, the Department of the Interior proposed a five-year plan to significantly scale back oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. This move came during sky-high energy prices straining American consumers’ budgets.
“From Day One, President Biden and I have made clear our commitment to transition to a clean energy economy. Today, we put forward an opportunity for the American people to consider and provide input on the future of offshore oil and gas leasing. The time for the public to weigh in on our future is now,” said Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
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“Today, based on my team’s work and my direction, the Department of the Interior is inviting the public to comment on a proposed offshore leasing program that will chart our course forward over the next five years. This is the second step in a three-step planning process to determine whether or how many offshore oil and gas lease sales to hold over the next five years. The proposed plan puts forward several options from no lease sales up to 11 lease sales over the next five years. Like the current program finalized in 2016, it removes from consideration the federal waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts while inviting public comment on 10 potential sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the Cook Inlet off south-central Alaska. A Proposed Program is not a decision to issue specific leases or to authorize any drilling or development,” Haaland said.