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March 29, 2021

States Oppose Biden Administration Energy Decisions That Impact Middle Class Workers

As Connecting the Dots reported last week, 21 states recently launched a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s decision to rescind a key permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Now, 14 states have filed lawsuits challenging the administration’s decision to pause the issuance of new leases on public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling. A group of 13 states, spearheaded by Louisiana, filed one suit on March 24, while Wyoming filed its own lawsuit the same day.

The Biden administration’s temporary pause, which has no end date, was issued in January pending “completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices.” The states asked that the policy be overturned.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R), who is leading the multi-state suit, said the president’s executive orders “abandon middle-class jobs at a time when America needs them most and put our energy security in the hands of foreign countries, many of whom despise America’s greatness.”

That outcome already seems to be playing out after the Biden administration’s Keystone decision. Last week, CNN examined how that choice has impacted workers and electricity ratepayers in two South Dakota towns. Already, more than 1,000 workers have been laid off, CNN reported. Yahoo News reported that many of these individuals are still out of work two months after the president’s decision.

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