Governor John Bel Edwards, the Democrat at the helm of Louisiana, has urged the federal government to resume oil and gas leases within months, the Associated Press reports , quoting the governor as saying that a longer pause in offshore leasing will devastate the Gulf Coast state’s economy. “I’m a governor of an energy producing state but also a state that’s on the front lines of climate crisis,” Gov Edwards told the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Department of the Interior said last month it would cancel all oil and gas lease sales on public lands until the end of the second quarter of the year. “Based on our ongoing review, the Bureau of Land Management is exercising its discretion to not hold lease sales in the 2nd quarter of Calendar Year 2021. This decision does not impact existing operations or permits for valid, existing […]