On April 25, 2023, environmental groups[1] sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for failure to respond to a January 2022 rulemaking petition to phase out oil and gas development on federal lands[2]. More than 360 groups signed the initial petition, which asked the Biden administration to enact a policy framework to phase out nearly all oil and gas development on federal lands by 2035.[3] According to the press release announcing the lawsuit, research published since this petition shows that developed countries must end oil and gas extraction by 2031 to avoid the negative effects of warming 1.5 degrees Celsius, the target the United Nations has set to prevent some of the worst potential climate impacts. In the two years since coming to office, the Biden administration has approved 6,430 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands, outpacing the Trump administration.

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are required to initiate rulemaking or provide a substantive response to rulemaking petitions within a reasonable timeframe. The lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration’s failure to respond to the petition is an unreasonable delay, citing the urgency of the climate crisis.

[1] Center for Biological Diversity, Wildearth Guardians, and Friends of the Earth

[2] https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/lawsuit-targets-us-delay-on-petition-to-phase-out-public-lands-oil-drilling-2023-04-25/

[3] https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/pdfs/Petition-to-Phase-Down-Fossil-Fuel-Production-on-Public-Lands-and-Water-19-Jan-2022.pdf