March 21, 2022 |
Wyoming and nine other petro-states lost a court battle last week against Joe Biden’s Interior Department. Three judges – two of them Obama appointees – on a Louisiana federal appeals court revived a Biden administration effort to account for potential damage from greenhouse gas emissions when creating rules for energy companies.
A Louisiana-based federal judge had blocked the so-called “social cost of carbon” policy last month, saying it would bring costly regulatory burdens and drive up energy prices. But three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans unanimously stayed the lower court in a ruling dated Wednesday, meaning the administration can continue using the policy while the case goes on.
In a flurry of Executive Orders on his first day in office, Biden restored the cost estimate to about $51 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions after the Trump administration had reduced the figure to about $7 or less per ton.
Opponents of the carbon-cost regulation question the scientific validity of the complex models used to determine climate damage.
The Biden administration fought include a climate change metric in its leasing decisions, while red state governors sued, arguing the climate calculations will result in less production of fossil fuels, less revenue for states and higher energy prices for American consumers.
As gas prices soared last month to record highs, the White House used the lower court’s ruling as an excuse for not moving forward with oil and gas leases on federal lands.
On Friday, armed with the fresh ruling that allows climate change calculations when setting energy policies, the Interior announced it will resume plans for issuing oil and gas leases on federal land. It offered no details on its website, though.
The battle may be over, but the fight goes on. Louisiana Attorney General said the decision would be appealed to the full 17-member of 5th Circuit Court.
