Three environmental law groups have sued the Biden administration in an attempt to block more than 3,500 permit applications from energy companies to drill for oil and gas on public lands.

The environmental groups filed the lawsuit in the District Court of Washington, DC, against the Bureau of Land Management, saying the permit approvals in Wyoming and New Mexico violated several federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act.

Climate advocates have been keen to hold President Joe Biden to his campaign promise to ban all new oil and gas drilling on public land – a promise he has been unable to deliver on. But that