An appeals court has closed the book on a case involving NOAA Fisheries’ analysis of the environmental risks of offshore oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico.
On Monday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an appeal brought by the fossil fuel industry was moot now that NOAA Fisheries has released a new review of how offshore drilling in the region could harm species like the endangered Rice’s whale.
The court noted in its brief order that none of the parties in the case had objected to dismissing the appeal.
The American Petroleum Institute, EnerGeo Alliance and the National Ocean Industries Association had sought to overturn a lower bench ruling that tossed out a 2020 analysis — known as a biological opinion — for the Gulf, which President Donald Trump renamed the Gulf of America earlier this year.
