U.S. District Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana issued an injunction against the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) efforts to reduce offshore oil drilling by an estimated 6 million acres.
According to the injunction, the DOI and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) actions were invalid.
“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 wrote.
“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. Failure to do so leads to ‘surprise switcheroo’ by an agency against regulated entities.”
Offshore oil production in Gulf waters contributes around 15% of U.S. crude oil.
A spokesperson for BOEM said they were “reviewing the decision.”
Reporting from The Daily Caller:
Congress mandated the Biden administration to hold the sale of Gulf lease area 261 in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill. In July, the administration settled with activist groups that had legally challenged the sale on the grounds that the federal government had inadequately assessed the risks posed to wildlife by drilling activity in the relevant area. Then, in August, the administration suggested nominally voluntary restrictions for oil and gas vessels in certain areas of the Gulf, which industry stakeholders told the Daily Caller News Foundation mounted to a de facto mandate at the time. Some of these stakeholders argued that the restrictions, if finalized and followed, would actually increase the amount of emissions generated by vessels transiting the Gulf while posing safety risks due to increased congestion.
