A single ruling by a Biden-appointed judge may soon halt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, further adding to the administration’s laundry list of actions crippling the energy sector. Judge Deborah Boardman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland sided with environmentalists in August, vacating a crucial National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) environmental review. This decision, unless reversed or addressed by December 20, could bring offshore drilling in the Gulf to a screeching halt, leaving developers with a risky choice: proceed with operations at their own peril or shut down entirely until new reviews are completed.
This is just another example of how the current administration, with the help of activist judges, is undermining American energy independence. As David Blackmon, an oil and gas industry veteran, pointed out, this ruling has thrown the entire offshore drilling industry into uncertainty. The revocation of a legally issued permit based on such shaky reasoning threatens billions in investments and puts every other permit for endangered species in jeopardy. The message to operators? Invest at your own risk, because the Biden administration’s climate agenda is ready to derail even longstanding, legally compliant projects.
It’s not just about one bad decision either—this is a pattern. Activist judges and inconsistent regulations are slowly eroding the confidence that companies once had in the American legal and regulatory system. Blackmon aptly noted that this administration’s apparent goal is to destroy any sense of stability for energy companies and investors, replacing it with constant uncertainty, all in the name of the “climate crisis.” And let’s not forget that this is happening in the Gulf of Mexico, which provides about 15% of all U.S. crude oil production and 5% of natural gas output. If the Gulf were a country, it would be among the top 12 oil producers in the world.
What makes this situation even more absurd is that the oil produced in the Gulf is actually less carbon-intensive than oil from other parts of the world. A 2023 analysis found that Gulf of Mexico oil is 46% less carbon-intensive than the global average, excluding the U.S. and Canada. So, the administration’s decision is not only hurting domestic energy production but also making climate change efforts less effective by pushing production to more carbon-intensive regions.
The root of this potential disruption is a 2020 biological opinion that assessed the impact of oil and gas operations on protected species in the Gulf. Regulators had been using this review as a blanket analysis to allow developers to proceed with their projects as long as they complied with the guidelines. Now, without it, every project will require individual assessments, which could lead to regulatory gridlock. Industry experts warn that such an influx of paperwork could drown the regulators, making it nearly impossible for them to approve new projects or maintain existing ones.
And it’s not just oil and gas drilling that’s at risk. This ruling could also affect green energy projects offshore, disrupt the operation of supply vessels, and cause chaos for existing wells and future developments. But of course, that’s what happens when you let a single judge sympathetic to radical climate activists wield unchecked power over an industry that powers much of the country.
