The State of Wyoming has filed its lawsuit today against the Biden Administration, alleging that the suspension of the oil lease that it enforced was illegal.
The state’s Republican Governor, Mark Gordon announced this lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s Interior Department for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and its decision to halt oil and gas lease sales in the state.
“This litigation is timely and vital to the interests of Wyoming citizens,” said Gov. Gordon in a statement.
“Beyond that, Wyoming’s energy resources can help power the nation and bring down costs at the pump. BLM’s decision to cancel lease sales sure seems to be a violation of both the letter and the spirit of the law.” He added.
“I firmly believe the pause in lease sales was politically driven and not based in law or fact,” the governor continued.
This comes after the state’s first initial lawsuit seeking the reversal of the department’s order to pause federal oil and gas leasing in the state for the first quarter of 2021. A U.S. District Court, in this case, sided with the Biden Administration ruling that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s decision was lawful but did not declare if other cancelations enforced by the department were in violation of any law.
This second iteration of the lawsuit is mainly focused on oil sales that did not occur in the second and third quarters of 2021 and the third quarter of 2022.
The state is accusing BLM of not issuing any oil and gas lease sales for 18 months straight and not restarting its regularly scheduled quarterly sales. The State’s Republican Attorney General, Bridget Hill is arguing that Sec. Haaland is lacking the same justification that she had previously used.
“Throughout my tenure as Governor, I have remained committed to protecting Wyoming and her economy against overreach from the federal government, and that is what this litigation is intended to do. I thank Attorney General Hill for defending Wyoming’s interests,” the governor said in his statement.
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