In recent years, the federal government has handed over vast swathes of public lands and waters to private corporations to drill for oil, mine for coal, and otherwise exploit.

During his first week in office, President Biden directed the Department of Interior to pause new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters while the administration reviews the federal oil and gas program.

On behalf of farmers and ranchers, conservation, recreation, and tribal groups, Earthjustice and conservation groups have moved to intervene to defend the Biden administration’s pause on federal oil and gas leasing pending the Department of Interior’s comprehensive review of the program.

The groups seek to defend the leasing pause against lawsuits filed by Wyoming, the Western Energy Alliance, and 14 states. The coalition argues this is the legal and necessary first step to a long-overdue review of the federal oil and gas leasing and permitting program.

Oil and gas pollution disproportionately harms low income communities. Air pollution from oil and gas extraction causes public health harms, and long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with higher COVID-19 mortality rates. A pause on oil and gas leasing and re-evaluation of the entire leasing program is a step toward addressing the disproportionate harms on these front-line communities.

In the Trump era, the oil and gas industry stockpiled more than 7,000 federal drilling permits — permits for new drilling that will take years for industry to complete. The industry has also stockpiled more than 13 million acres of public lands oil and gas leases. That means the oil and gas industry can continue operating as normal for years.