Judge Terry Doughty, U.S. district judge for the Western District of Louisiana, permanently blocked Biden oil & gas leasing pause in 13 states, ruling that the White House overreached with the ban. An on-going lease moratorium would have lowered employment by 210 jobs, reduced person income by $13-million and cost $4-million in oil & gas taxes in Montana. The ruling de facto blocked Lease Sale 257, because the Biden administration did not appeal.
