The Biden administration has suspended new leasing for fossil fuel production on federal lands and waters, as well as the issuance of new drilling permits, for 60 days, in what could be a major blow to Texas's oil industry.

Acting Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega signed an order Wednesday night, ordering department staff not to "issue any onshore or offshore fossil fuel authorization," without clearance from Biden's appointees, who are still waiting to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The move to cut off new oil and gas production, as well as coal mining, comes as President Joe Biden has promised to move swiftly on climate change, getting the United States on the path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid century.

While Wednesday's order is only temporary, presumably giving  the senate time to confirm Biden's nominee for interior secretary, Rep. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., there is little indication that Biden will not seek to make it permanent. Were he to succeed, oil and gas companies in Houston and across Texas, many of which drill heavily in the Gulf of Mexico and on federal lands in the western United States, will be forced to look elsewhere.

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