14 States Sue Biden Administration for Pause in Oil and Gas Lease

Fourteen states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against U.S. President Joe Biden's administration for his moratorium on new oil and natural gas leases.

On his first day in office, Biden suspended oil and gas lease.

One of the reasons he cited for the action was climate change, according to an Associated Press report.

This earned sharp criticism from the Republican states and the oil industry, despite the leasing postponement being a temporary one.

However, officials did not say how long the moratorium will be implemented.

States Suing Biden

Louisiana was leading the lawsuit along with 12 other states on Wednesday.

Enjoined in Louisiana's lawsuit are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. All of the states have Republican attorneys general.

The Louisiana lawsuit claims that the president's moratorium would affect communities leaning on oil and gas drilling, as well as drive up energy prices. The lawsuit also requests that the Bureau of Land Management starts quarterly lease sales.

The lawsuit also states that coastal states earn significant revenue from onshore and offshore oil and gas activity. The lawsuit further argues that the moratorium would affect the revenue that pays for Louisiana efforts to restore coastal wetlands and cause major job loss, according to another AP report.

Landry said that banning oil and gas activity that supports businesses, employees, and workers. These activities also fund their coastal restoration projects.

Meanwhile, Wyoming filed a separate lawsuit regarding the matter.

"This moratorium might make for a nice headline about fighting climate change, but the real consequences of the action are far from certain and far from uniformly environmentally friendly," the Wyoming lawsuit was quoted in a CNBC News report.

Biden Administration's Actions

Emission reductions from a permanent leasing ban would be small, about 100 million tons annually or less than one percent of global fossil emissions.

Environmentalists and others want more aggressive action against climate change, saying a ban would cause an economic shift.

Biden has been eyeing policies that would promote renewable energy on public lands, such as wind and solar power.

Meanwhile, Biden's administration has argued that the companies still have plenty of undeveloped leases with almost 14 million acres in western states and more than nine million acres offshore.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said jobs and production would not be affected immediately.

Meanwhile, Democrat Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is urging the White House to review the moratorium. He also noted the stockpiled undeveloped leases to suggest that economic threat is far from happening just yet.

Economists say that claims of job loss due to the leasing ban are "greatly exaggerated."

The University of Wyoming projected around 300,000 jobs lost by 2025. However, historical data on energy jobs claim a much smaller impact of around 60,000 jobs, according to Jeremy Weber, a former chief energy economist for Trump's White House Council of Economic Advisers.

WATCH: Biden pauses oil and gas leases, cuts subsidies in "bold" climate steps - from Global News