Oil lease moratorium holding students hostage? Levi Hill/News-Sun State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard is holding New Mexico’s schoolchildren hostage for more money. That’s what some of the state’s Republican legislators say about her recently announced moratorium on oil and gas lease sales on state trust lands, which came after two bills failed to find their way to the governor’s …

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration reached a legal settlement Tuesday that requires the government to reexamine potential climate damages from oil and gas leases put up for sale under the Trump administration on government land in Montana and North Dakota. Similar deals have been reached in recent weeks for lease sales covering thousands …