WYOMING — The Biden Administration’s controversial moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal lands is coming to an end.
In April, The U.S. Interior Department announced that it was canceling oil and gas lease sales from public lands through June amid an ongoing review of how the program contributes to climate change, officials said Wednesday.
Later on, in May, the State of Wyoming filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the Federal de-facto moratorium on oil and gas leasing.
“The current de facto leasing moratorium is bad policy for Wyoming and contrary to law,” Governor Gordon said. “This is a key action to protect the interests of Wyoming and her people.”
The petroleum industry and its Republican allies have argued in Congress that the oil and gas moratorium would harm the economies of Western states without putting a significant dent in climate change.
The burning of oil, gas, and coal from government-owned lands and waters is a top source of U.S. emissions, accounting for 24% of the nation’s greenhouse gases. Oil and gas account for the biggest chunk of human-caused fossil fuel emissions from federal lands following a drilling surge under former President Donald Trump.
“A federal judge recently pressured the Biden administration to start reopening the leasing process in some areas, or face being in contempt of court,” said Wyoming Public Media this morning.
Now, the government is beginning to accept public comments on thousands of acres of potential leases.
“However, even though the administration is collecting comments for lease sales across the West, they still haven’t shown what kinds of new climate regulations they might put in place or whether they’ll even move forward with most of the leases.”
