WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) released the following statement in response to a ruling from Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court in Monroe which suspended the Biden administration’s pause on oil and gas leasing.
“This is fantastic news for workers in Louisiana whose livelihoods are being threatened by the administration’s thoughtless energy policy,” said Dr. Cassidy. “The president should not be able to take away tens of thousands of jobs to fulfill a campaign promise. We need a long-term, all-of-the-above strategy that does not pick winners and losers. The Department of the Interior should immediately begin moving forward with another offshore lease sale.”
Louisiana led 13 states in suing to overturn the Biden administration’s moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal lands.
Background
In January, Cassidy along with a quarter of his Senate colleagues introduced the Protecting our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act of 2021, which would prohibit the president or his secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Energy departments from blocking energy or mineral leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters without Congressional approval.
He also issued a statement in response to President Biden’s harmful energy executive orders.
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