A coalition of Republican-led states is pushing to immediately halt President Joe Biden’s pause on oil and gas leasing on public lands.
Louisiana and 12 other states on Wednesday urged the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to issue a preliminary injunction that would restart leasing on federal land and waters while litigation plays out.
The states say the policy, established in a January executive order, violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and Mineral Leasing Act, and threatens the billions of dollars in annual funding states receive from lease sales.
“Because the Biden Ban systematically ...