Federal District Judge has issued a ruling against the Gulf [oil and gas] The Biden administration's lease sale in 2023 said the Interior Department failed to consider the impact of the auction on climate and whale populations, which violated the Environmental Policy Act. [emphasis, links added]
Bloomberg reported this Judge Amit Mehta has not yet proposed any corrective measures, but has disclosed what an agency responsible for the sale of leases should take.
Based on the report, the choice includes invalidating the lease or revising the contract based on the findings.
A total of 26 companies bid for the blocks offered and submitted 325 bids for 1.7 million acres. In addition to large players, smaller producers also participated in the bidding and jointly bid.
The total area offered at the auction held in December 2023 is 9% smaller than the original lease area, especially to protect the habitat of endangered whales, rather than 67 million acres instead of 73.4 million acres.
Since then, the U.S. Petroleum Institute, U.S. Super Chevrolet and Louisiana have sued the Biden administration, and API Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers said the reduced land represents “unreasonable action to further limit U.S. energy access to the Gulf of Mexico.
However, Justice Meta said the Marine Energy Administration “missed out obvious omissions” only when assessing the impact of the lease on Rice’s whale core habitat, when there was “reliable evidence” that the habitat spanned the core.
Furthermore, the judge believes that BOEM does not fully consider the impact of new oil and gas developments in Gulf carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and changes in energy markets on these emissions.
The case was brought to court by six environmental organizations.
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