DOJ Court Filing Debunks Biden Administration Claim About Mandatory Oil and Gas Leases

Shortly after President Joe Biden appear at international climate lecture , his government auctioned off arecord amount of the Gulf of Mexicofor oil and gas boring . It claimed its helping hand were legally tie by a court mandate . But in a memo , the Department of Justice appears to have admit a anterior courtyard ruling did not in fact compel the administration to go through the auction .

“ While the Order enjoins and restrains Interior from follow up the pause , it does not obligate Interior to take the actions specified by plaintiff , let alone on the pressing timeline delineate in Plaintiffs ’ scorn motion , ” the memo , which theGuardianreported on on Monday , reads . That ’s a direct contradiction in terms of what the administration was say around the time of the rental .

“ We ’re required to comply with the cease and desist order , ” Biden Press Secretary Jen Psakisaid last month . “ It ’s a legal guinea pig and sound process , but it ’s crucial for advocates and other multitude out there who are following this to understand that it ’s not aligned with our vista , the Chief Executive ’s policy , or the executive order that he signed . ”

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The auction in interrogation came after months of legal wrangling . The Biden giving medication had put apause on Union vegetable oil and accelerator pedal leasing , a move that thefossil fuel industryand13 Department of State attorneys generalfought in court . In reply , the court come out a temporary injunction , though the cases are ongoing .

Despitenumerous sound expertssaying the injunction did n’t mean the administration needed to start leasing auctions again , it give-up the ghost through with one in November . A big one , with80 million acresup for grabs in the Gulf of Mexico . A Union analysisestimatesthat the tract up for pick could control 1.1 billion gun barrel of oil and 4.4 trillion cubic feet of instinctive gas . If extract , that would release 723 million metric loads of C dioxide emissions , grant to ananalysisfrom the Center for American Progress .

The Department of Justice memo take the court ’s order was actually misread and does not require government activity activity on leases on a specific timeline . “ Similarly here , plaintiff misinterpret the Court ’s guild as requiring government activity on a specific timeline , when there is no such command in the Court ’s edict , ” the memo reads . “ The Court ’s purchase order does not compel the agency to pretend in dispute of these other authorities . ”

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The White House did not immediately reply to Gizmodo ’s asking for comment . That monolithic sale , though , flies in the facial expression of research from scientists showing fossil fuels need to be nose down , including anInternational Energy Agency reportshowing new dodo fuel projects must end this class to keep a safe mood .

“ The governance has been misleading on this , to put it mildly , it ’s very disappointing , ” Food and Water Watch National Organizing Manager Thomas Meyer , tell the Guardian . “ They did n’t have to hold this sale and they did n’t have to hold it on this timeline . ”

These confounding statement from the Biden organization around the rental auction will only further muddy up its climate repute . On one hand , the administration hasrejoinedthe Paris Agreement , proposedtougher rules to bring down methane emissions , and pushed for climate provisions in the Build Back Better Act . At the same fourth dimension though , the giving medication hassided with pollutersin some judicature causes , and a newanalysisfrom Public Citizendeterminedthe Bureau of Land Management had okay an norm of 336 new fogey fuel oil production per calendar month in 2021 , more than the modal amount approved nearly every year of Donald Trump ’s presidentship .

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