A federal judge in Alaska ruled on Tuesday that the Department of the Interior (DOI) acted unlawfully when it canceled seven oil and gas leases issued for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) because the agency failed to obtain a court order beforehand.
In a 22-page order, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason stated that DOI needed to obtain a court order to cancel the seven leases that had been awarded to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) before the Biden administration took office in 2021.
“There is no reason DOI could not file an action seeking declaratory relief in such circumstances,” Gleason stated. “Accordingly, Federal Defendants’ cancellation of AIDEA’s leases was not in accordance with law because it failed to seek a court order.”…