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

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 to cease its moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, sending it up to the federal appeals court (pdf).

The case has now been sent back to the lower district court for further proceedings.

The suspension of leasing the lands for energy purposes has been a key part of President Joe Biden’s climate change agenda.

A dozen states, including the State of Louisiana, filed an injunction on June 15, 2021, in the U.S. district court, to block the pause on leasing by the Department of the Interior (DOI), arguing that the states would suffer injury from the policy.

The DOI was forced by the district court in 2021 to allow new leasing to proceed during the appeals process, “consistent with the district court’s injunction during the appeal.”

The appeals court determined that the lower court does not specifically outline what the Biden administration is able to or is not able to do, which it must address before the case can proceed, according to court filings.

In a statement by the three appeals judges on the panel, they said: “We cannot reach the merits of the government’s challenge when we cannot ascertain from the record what conduct—an unwritten agency policy, a written policy outside of the executive order, or the executive order itself—is enjoined.”

The appeals court ruled that the lower court’s injunction and its accompanying memorandum “lack specificity” and that its order focused on an Interior Department action that was not yet finalized.

“Our review of [Administrative Procedure Act] claims must begin by determining if there was final agency

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