Major US oil industry groups on Monday sued the administration of US President Joe Biden for halting drilling auctions on federal lands and waters this year, arguing that the government is required by law to hold regular sales.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) and 11 other groups filed the lawsuit in federal court in the Western District of Louisiana.
It seeks to compel the US Department of the Interior to reinstate the lease sales, calling the length of the stoppage “unprecedented.”
Photo: Reuters
During his election campaign, Biden promised to stop issuing new leases to oil and gas companies as part of an agenda to combat climate change and move the country off of fossil fuel use by 2050.
His administration in January paused drilling auctions pending a review of the program.
Since then, the administration has been sued by oil-producing states and industry groups who say the pause is costing them jobs and revenue.
“The law is clear: The department must hold lease sales and provide a justification for significant policy changes,” API chief legal officer Paul Afonso said in a statement. “They have yet to meet these requirements in the eight months since instituting a federal leasing pause, which continues to create uncertainty for US natural gas and oil producers.”
US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in May said that a report would be released in “early summer,” and late last month told a congressional committee that it was coming “very soon.”
Interior officials would not comment on the suit.
In June, a federal judge in Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction to Louisiana and 12 other states that sued the department over the leasing freeze.
At the time, Biden administration officials said that they would comply with the ruling, but have not moved to resume auctions.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS