Morning Brief: Judge blocks DOI oil & gas leasing pause

At the request of 13 Republican-led states, a federal judge is blocking the Biden administration’s oil and gas leasing pause on federal lands and waters, presenting a legal obstacle for the Interior Department’s (DOI) ongoing efforts to overhaul the program to account for climate change and economic effects. Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction June 15 that blocks DOI from “implementing the Pause of new oil and natural...