Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joined a lawsuit to block President Joe Biden’s plan to suspend oil and gas leases on federal land, according to a statement released by his office on Thursday. Utah is joining several other states — including Alabama, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia — in suing Biden’s administration. The lawsuit claims Biden’s executive order is in direct violation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and Mineral Leasing Act.
Reyes said Biden’s “unlawful moratorium on federal land” causes a great threat to Utah’s oil and gas industry, adding the revenues from oil and gas leases “help fund schools and local governments, as well as health, safety and environmental projects across the state.”