(Reuters) – A federal judge in Louisiana on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration’s pause on oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters, dealing a setback to a key White House effort to address climate change.
The order granted a preliminary injunction to Louisiana and 12 other states that sued Democratic President Joe Biden and the Interior Department over the freeze on new drilling auctions. Louisiana is a major hub for offshore oil and gas production.
Biden paused the government’s leasing auctions in January pending a review that is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. The move was part of a sweeping plan to rein in fossil-fuel extraction and combat the effects of climate change.
The Interior Department said it would comply with the ruling, but did not say when auctions might resume.
In the ruling, Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said the states had met the requirements to establish that they would suffer injury from the pause on new oil and gas leases.
“Millions and possibly billions of dollars are at stake,” Doughty wrote.
He also said the states had a “substantial likelihood of success” with their lawsuit.
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