Friday, 21 February 2025
Home Topics Politics Courts Republican-led states sue Biden administration over offshore drilling ban
CourtsEnvironmentMiningNatural GasNewsOilPolitics

Republican-led states sue Biden administration over offshore drilling ban

37
The sun sets behind an oil drilling rig in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on March 17, 2011.  REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
Republican-led states sue over Biden's ban on new offshore oil. The sun sets behind an oil drilling rig in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of Republican-led states filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging a ban announced by outgoing Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this month on new offshore oil and gas development along most U.S. coastlines.

The lawsuit seeks a reversal of Biden’s ban with declaratory and injunctive relief, according to a court filing that argued Biden did not have the authority to impose such a ban and that the power to do so rests with the U.S. Congress.

Biden’s move announced on Jan. 6 was considered mostly symbolic, as it will not impact areas where oil and gas development is currently underway, and mainly covers zones where drillers have no important prospects, including in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The ban will affect 625 million acres (253 million hectares) of ocean and Biden said it was in line with his agenda to fight climate change. The Biden administration, which leaves office on Jan. 20 when Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes over, had no immediate comment.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana mentioned Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland as defendants, with the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia and Mississippi being the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs also include two trade groups – the American Petroleum Institute and the Gulf Energy Alliance.

Trump has said he will move quickly to revoke the ban but could find it difficult to do so.

The 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows presidents to remove areas from mineral leasing and drilling but does not grant them the legal authority to overturn prior bans, according to a 2019 court ruling – meaning a reversal would likely require an act of Congress.

Trump said he would take the matter to court if necessary.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)

Related Articles

First Minister John Swinney was shown a hydrogen gas cooker during the visit (Jane Barlow/PA)
ClimateHydrogen

Swinney: Hydrogen-powered home is ‘exciting’ development in climate change fight

John Swinney says the opening of the first hydrogen-powered homes at a...

FILE PHOTO: People walk past an installation depicting barrel of oil with the logo of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) during the COP29 United Nations climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan November 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
BusinessOilPoliticsTrade

OPEC+ likely to stick to oil output hike plan, sources say

By Maha El Dahan, Ahmad Ghaddar and Olesya Astakhova LONDON (Reuters) -OPEC+...

FILE - People walk amid an oil spill in the Niger Delta in village of Ogboinbiri, Nigeria, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)
BusinessEconomyOilPolitics

Nigeria moves to restart oil production in vulnerable region after Shell sells much of its business

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The Nigerian government is in talks with local...

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump makes a campaign stop at manufacturer FALK Production in Walker, Michigan, U.S. September 27, 2024.  REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
BusinessEconomyIndustryInfrastructurePoliticsTrade

US metal buyers likely to turn to Mideast, Chile as tariffs bite

By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) -U.S. companies will look to the Middle...

Login into your Account

Please login to like, dislike or bookmark this article.