Environmental groups sued the Biden administration Monday in an attempt to block one of three offshore oil and gas lease sales ordered by Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
The lawsuit, filed by Gulf of Mexico-based green groups and other prominent environmental organizations such as Sierra Club, asks a federal court to toss the Interior Department’s environmental analysis performed for the lease sale.
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Plaintiff groups argued the analysis failed legal requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act and should not proceed.
“Selling off more of our lands and waters to the fossil fuel industry is the last thing we should do at a time when we need to be rapidly transitioning away from oil and gas to meet our nation’s climate goals and create a livable planet for all,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program.
The Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ green energy and healthcare spending bill passed last August, included orders for the Interior to carry out three lease sales it canceled in May 2022, two of which are located in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Interior issued a final notice of sale on Feb. 24 for the lease sale, which makes 73.3 million acres of federal tracts available for lease.
Environmental groups opposed to additional oil and gas leasing have implored the administration to decline to auction off federal acreage both onshore and offshore, although the administration carried forward with leasing, citing mandates in the new law.
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, backs additional oil and gas development on public lands and waters and secured the leasing provisions in the law, which passed without Republican support.
