North Dakota sues Biden over oil, gas lease suspension
BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota has sued the Biden administration over its suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land and water.
President Joe Biden shut down oil and gas lease sales from the nation’s public lands and waters in his first days in office, citing worries about climate change.
The lawsuit claims the move is unlawful and will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
“Rather than working with states on forward-looking innovation and solutions for carbon management, this unlawful ban is a backward-looking, top-down regulation that threatens to further drive up the price at the pump and deny hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to our schools, communities and state,” Gov. Doug Burgum said.
“This misguided ban hurts hardworking Americans, puts our energy security at risk and fails to solve the problem for the environment. It’s bad for the country, and we will continue to oppose it as we fully support the attorney general’s actions.”
The lawsuit seeks to force the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to reschedule two lease sales that already have been canceled and block the agency from revoking others in the future.
