A 3-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C formally ended an environmental legal challenge to a Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale that had been blocked by a district judge but was revived by the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. After President Biden paused new O&G leasing in 2021, a coalition of attorneys general sued him and Louisiana’s AG Jeff Landry. The suit paved a way for a November 2021 lease sale that netted more than $189M. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras of Washington threw out that sale. However, the Inflation Reduction Act put the sale back on the books and forced the White House to host two lease sales in 2023. The lease sales allow O&G companies to bid for drilling space on federal land and waters. Environmental groups challenged that move in court. In the April 28 ruling, the panel disagreed and vacated Contreras’ ruling as moot. (NOLA.com 04/28/23) Federal appeals court ends Gulf of Mexico oil lease fight | Business News | nola.com
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