Governor Gordon Calls Oil & Gas Lease Ban a ‘Direct Attack on Wyoming,’ Issues Executive Order
Governor Mark Gordon has issued an Executive Order, directing state agencies to examine the impact, financial and otherwise, that the Biden Administration’s ban on new leases of oil and gas on federal land has had on Wyoming.
Gordon has also told agencies to examine legal options available to Wyoming.
The Executive Order is made up of four components. It instructs state agencies to examine the financial impacts of the drilling ban, but it also asks them to examine the impacts to oil and gas employment in Wyoming. It also instructs agencies to coordinate with the Governor’s Office on efforts to challenge the order, as well as identify potential litigation that the state may want to pursue.
The Executive Order states that it supersedes all previous orders in conflict or that are inconsistent with its terms. It will remain in effect and full force unless it is modified, amended, rescinded or superseded by the governor.
The Executive Order is effective immediately.
State agencies in Wyoming are vast and varied. They include: Agriculture, Climatologists, the Community Development Authorities, Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors, the Enhanced Oil Recovery Commission, the Environmental Quality Council, the Game and Fish Department, Homeland Security, the Office of Tourism, the Livestock Board, the University of Wyoming, the Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, the Water Development Commission, the Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, and many more.
“These orders issued by the new administration are a direct attack on Wyoming and our way of life. I am directing members of my cabinet to examine the economic, financial and workforce impacts of the President’s actions,” Governor Gordon said. “I will continue to fight these misguided and destructive policies by all means necessary. The way to move America forward is not through crushing her Western states.”
A copy of Executive Order 2021-01 can be found on Governor Gordon’s website.