Court finds Trump-era offshore oil lease sales spanning 72 million acres in Gulf of Mexico unlawful

Two oil leases held in the Gulf of Mexico were deemed unlawful by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, marking the second time this year that a court has ruled against oil leases in the Gulf. The two leases were originally proposed as part of the Trump-era Interior Department’s five-year leasing plan. In a ruling issued by Judge Gregory Katsas, the court deemed that the department “unreasonably refused to consider possible deficiencies in environmental enforcement.” Katsas called out multiple agencies—including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)—over the leasing of some 72 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, though he refused to vacate the leases themselves.

“The environmental groups have identified no harm that flows from leaving the sales in place for now, when exploration and development cannot occur absent further regulatory approvals from Interior,” Katsas wrote. Though the leases themselves may stay in place, there is nothing fossil fuel companies can do at this stage. For Earthjustice, the group who sued the Interior Department on behalf of organizations like Healthy Gulf and the Sierra Club, the ruling represents a “a win for Gulf communities who are on the frontlines of climate change and our global dependence on oil and gas.”