President Joe Biden’s ban on offshore drilling in certain parts of the ocean and the Gulf of America was illegal, a federal judge ruled on Oct. 2.
U.S. District Judge James Cain of Louisiana ruled that both Biden and President Barack Obama went beyond their authority when they banned offshore drilling in parts of the Outer Continental Shelf because the bans were imposed without an expiration date.
Their orders “purported to apply for ‘a period of time without specific expiration,’ i.e., indefinitely,” Cain wrote in a 16-page decision. That “constituted a departure from the executive branch’s longstanding practice” and exceeded the authority outlined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, he added….