A federal judge sided with the Biden administration in a lawsuit related to the government halting oil and gas leases in the state of Wyoming.
On Jan. 27, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order instructing the Department of the Interior (DOI) to temporarily pause all new oil and gas leases on federal lands and offshore waters until an assessment is completed to determine the potential “climate and other impacts” of such actions. The DOI secretary postponed most scheduled leases in the first quarter of 2021, and didn’t carry out any lease sales in the second quarter. The Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) of 1920 grants authority to the DOI secretary to lease federal land for developing natural resources.
