VICTORY: Due to successful Earthjustice lawsuit, Court halts massive oil and gas lease sale in Gulf of Mexico

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Dear Friend,

In a pivotal victory in the fight to defend Gulf Coast communities and the planet from the worsening climate crisis, a federal court tossed out the Interior Department’s decision to offer 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing because Interior refused to consider the significant climate impacts.

More than a billion barrels of oil could have ended up being produced from the leases, so blocking their issuance is a big deal. Further oil and gas drilling would invite destruction and disasters for Gulf Coast communities already suffering from rising temperatures, flooding, and pollution.

This is a monumental win and the first time a court has ever vacated a lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. A coalition of advocates -- including Earthjustice supporters like you -- spoke up in opposition to this Gulf lease sale and helped make this victory possible.
Our victory here sets up a big decision and test for the Biden administration. It wipes the slate clean and requires Interior to first consider the climate effects of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico before it decides to offer any more leases. The decision that comes next will be a test of the administration’s commitment to action on climate change. Is the administration going to follow through on its pledge to address climate change, or is the United States going to continue with business as usual in producing dirty fossil fuel from lands and waters that belong to all Americans? A lot hangs on the answer to that question.

Whatever the Department of the Interior decides to do, this court ruling should signal the Biden administration to start taking the climate seriously and phase out fossil fuel leasing.

From upcoming lease sales in Wyoming to Alaska, Earthjustice will continue to work alongside communities impacted by coal, oil, and gas production and use the power of the law to loosen the fossil fuel industry’s destructive grip on our world. And we need you by our side. Help us continue to hold the Biden administration accountable and urge it to stop new fossil fuel lease sales from happening.

We simply cannot continue to make investments in the fossil fuel industry to the peril of our communities and increasingly warming planet.

Sincerely,
Drew Caputo
Vice President of Litigation
Lands, Wildlife & Oceans

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