Posted on 03/26/2025 6:05:00 AM PDT by karpov
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge in Alaska on Tuesday ruled the Biden administration lacked the authority to cancel seven oil and gas leases that had been issued for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said terms of a 2017 tax law that set the stage for the first-ever lease sale in the refuge’s coastal plain in early 2021 suggested that leases could only be canceled by a court order. She sent the matter back to the Department of Interior for further action.
President Donald Trump upon his return to office in January signed an Alaska-specific executive order that among other things had sought to rescind the lease cancelation.
The tax law called for two lease sale offerings by late 2024 in the refuge’s coastal plain, a roughly 1.5 million acre (more than 6 million hectare) swath of the vast refuge that borders the Beaufort Sea and is home to such wildlife as polar bears, caribou and birds. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state corporation, was the major bidder in the first sale, which was held in the waning days of the first Trump administration. Small companies won two other leases but gave them up.
Gleason in 2021 had rejected calls by drilling opponents to halt that first lease sale until underlying lawsuits were resolved.
The second sale, held shortly before Biden left office, drew no bids. It was criticized by Alaska political leaders as too restrictive to attract interest, but environmental groups pointed to a lack of interest from oil companies as a reason to put the long-running debate over whether to allow drilling to rest.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Wow, that’s getting right on it.
Finally, some sanity.
IIRC, Biden double the “take” the government would receive from drilling on any public lands.
” a 2017 tax law that set the stage for the first-ever lease sale in the refuge’s coastal plain in early 2021 suggested that leases could only be canceled by a court order.”
Is this what Congress actually included explicitly or implicitly in their legislation?
Easier to say you’re sorry than to ask permission. 4 years of no drilling. What good is the legal system?
Exactly, which seems to be Trump's current approach. The judicial system has a leftist activist judge cancer going on.
Doesn’t matter - he would have been ignored if he had ruled in a timely manner.
Wha... wha.... whattttttt? A judge ruled against a liberal president? Will wonders never cease! A judge found a backbone... a few years too late!
Yeah weird how the left can ignore judicial decisions agaisnt them, but if pres Trump does so, immediate impeachement.
“What good is the legal system?”
I’m more than beginning to wonder.
Way more.
More, Big Time.
So why didn’t he say that 4 years ago ???
My thoughts exactly.
True.
That’s what I’m wondering!
One hectare is about 2.47 acres. So 6 million hectares would be about 15 million acres. Evidently, arithmetic was not the author's strong subject.
They become gods in their second year of law school.
They know more than all of humanity combined.
Oops.
Haven’t had my coffee yet.
No one asked him?
DRILL BABY, DRILL!!!😀
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