Louisiana v. Biden

The federal district court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled that a lawsuit challenging President Biden’s withdrawal of certain areas of the Outer Continental Shelf from potential oil and gas leasing was not moot despite President Trump’s executive order rescinding the withdrawal memoranda. The court therefore denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings by environmental groups that had intervened as defendants. The court said the lawsuit concerned an issue “that has been the subject of an apparent tug-of-war between administrations for more than a decade” and found that “[t]he likelihood that a subsequent administration will attempt to undo the actions of the last one in this arena by executive order or memorandum is high.” The court also noted that some of the environmental group intervenors in this case were asking another court to vacate President Trump’s rescission order.

At least two lawsuits were filed challenging President Biden’s permanent withdrawal of areas of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean from oil and gas leasing. In a lawsuit filed in the Western District of Louisiana, the State of Louisiana, along with four other states and two industry groups, asserted that the withdrawals violated separation of powers because the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) provision at issue violates the non-delegation doctrine and the President’s actions taken pursuant to it are therefore ultra vires. They also alleged that the OCSLA provision violates the Property Clause, which gives Congress the power “to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.” In addition, they asserted a major questions doctrine-based claim that the President acted beyond the authority granted by OCSLA. The <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/texas-v-biden-2/">other lawsuit</a> was filed in the Eastern District of Texas.