US Circuit Court Ruling Clears Biden Administration’s Executive Order Pausing New Oil and Gas Leases

Defunct oil drilling rigs in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel at Aransas Pass in Port Aransas, Texas, on March 11, 2019. Loren Elliott/AFP via Getty Images

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, on Aug. 17, cleared the way for the Biden administration’s pause on new oil, gas leasing on federal lands and waters, issued in 2021.

A lower U.S. district court in Louisiana previously ordered that the administration cease its moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, sending it up to the federal appeals court (pdf).