Conservation Groups Seek to Overturn Permian Basin Leases

Conservation groups sued the Biden administration on Monday to overturn nearly 6,000 acres of oil and gas leases in southeast New Mexico’s Permian Basin, arguing it “rubber-stamped” a process that improperly fast-tracked the leasing process over environmental concerns.

The Interior Department’s approval of the lease sales, in May 2021, violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act because it failed to address the harm from expanded oil and gas extraction to the climate and regional air quality, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New ...