A US federal judge has blocked a highly controversial sale of oil and gas drilling leases across 80m acres of the Gulf of Mexico, ruling that Joe Biden’s administration did not properly consider the leases’ impact upon the climate crisis.
“New oil leases are fundamentally incompatible with addressing the climate emergency, and they’ll cause more oil spills and harm to wildlife and people in the Gulf.”.
The lease sale was held in November, just days after UN climate talks in Scotland in which the president vowed the US would “lead by example” in tackling the climate crisis.
Biden had previously promised to shut down all new oil and gas drilling to curb emissions of planet-heating gases.
The Gulf of Mexico auction eventually resulted in 1.7m acres sold off to oil firms including Exxon, Chevron and BP, the company responsible for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.
“These leases were a climate disaster waiting to happen,” said Raúl Grijalva, one of the three lawmakers and chair of the House natural resources committee.
“We are glad that the court has held them accountable for this reckless action, and we will continue to fight to protect Gulf coast communities from the dangers of offshore drilling and climate chaos. »
