Lease of Gulf waters delayed by whale protection debate must continue, court rules

Source: Associated Press

Lease of Gulf waters delayed by whale protection debate must continue, court rules

BY KEVIN MCGILL
Updated 9:45 PM EST, November 14, 2023

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An auction of federal Gulf of Mexico leases for oil and gas drilling must be held in 37 days, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, rejecting environmentalists’ arguments against the sale and throwing out plans by the Biden administration to scale back the sale to protect an endangered species of whale.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling means the lease sale — once set for September, but postponed multiple times amid legal fights — will be held in December. And it must cover 73 million acres (30 million hectares), as originally planned when the administration announced the sale in the spring.

The administration later scaled back the area covered by the lease sale to 67 million acres (27 million hectares) as part of an agreement to protect the endangered Rice’s whale. But the state of Louisiana joined oil and gas companies in opposing the changes.

A federal judge in southwest Louisiana ordered the sale to go on without the whale protections, which also included regulations involving vessel speed and personnel. That led to an appeal by environmental groups — and delays while the arguments continued.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/gulf-of-mexico-oil-gas-leases-6bd0f8bd4281aea5fdc5fbf76b76b1bd