Trump-Appointed Judge Permanently Blocks Biden's Oil and Gas Leasing Moratorium

A Trump-appointed federal judge in Louisiana issued a permanent injunction Thursday against President Joe Biden's moratorium on oil and gas lease sales on public lands and waters, a decision that came just 24 hours after a different court ruled that the administration's long-blocked drilling freeze could take effect.

Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, the same judge who temporarily halted Biden's lease sale moratorium last year, sided Thursday with the 13 fossil fuel industry-friendly Republican attorneys general who sued to block the pause.

Doughty's ruling applies only to the...