Biden’s “Sue and Settle” to Eliminate Fossil Fuels

A new lawsuit brought against the Department of the Interior last week by a series of left-wing interest groups is raising questions about the return of “sue and settle” cases as a signature feature of the Beltway swamp.

Led by the Dakota Resource Council, 10 environmental groups including the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club are suing the Interior Department, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and their executives to put an end to federal lease sales for oil and gas drilling on public lands. Despite an 18-month suspension in lease sales and an overhaul of the leasing program that discourages drilling, the plaintiffs allege that the federal government failed to consider the global consequences of emissions from more oil and gas extraction.

“Federal Defendants acknowledge the fundamentally incremental nature of the climate crisis and the small and shrinking window that remains to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change,” the legal complaint states. “Federal Defendants also admit that their Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program contributes significantly to the global climate crisis, and that the Lease Sales at issue here will collectively …