AUSTIN - A federal judge in Louisiana sided with Attorney General Ken Paxton and a dozen other plaintiff states in a Louisiana-led lawsuit, issuing a permanent injunction against the Biden Administration’s illegal moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal public lands and offshore waters.
The permanent injunction comes after Paxton joined the lawsuit in 2021 and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction last year, a press release states.
“Joe Biden may have declared war on American energy independence, but we’re fighting back and we’re winning in court,” said Paxton. “The executive order was a clear example of unconstitutional federal overreach, and I’m pleased to see the court make the right decision in issuing a permanent injunction to prevent it from taking effect.”
The court stated: “Millions and possibly billions of dollars are at stake. Local government funding, jobs for Plaintiff States’ workers, and funds for the restoration of . . . Coastline[s] are at stake. Plaintiff States have a reliance interest in the proceeds derived from offshore and onshore oil and gas lease sales. Additionally, the public interest is served when the law is followed. The public will be served if Government Defendants are enjoined from taking actions contrary to law. In a time of high gas and oil prices, draining of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and looking to other nations to supply the United States’ oil and gas needs, the public interest would be served by a permanent injunction.”