(Natural News) At a time when America desperately needs to ramp up its drilling efforts for oil and gas to help increase supplies and quell inflation, a coalition of environmental groups is suing the Biden regime over 3,500 permit applications that seek to do this very thing on federal lands.

These extremist groups argue that allowing energy drilling on federal lands will release carbon dioxide (CO2), which they claim is causing "climate change" and "global warming." They also claim that certain endangered species will go extinct if America becomes more energy independent.

Permits that have already been approved in Wyoming and New Mexico, the lawsuit alleges, violate numerous federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act.

"The groups said burning fossil fuels from drilling is heating the planet and damaging imperiled species like Hawaiian songbirds, desert fish, ice seals and polar bears," reported CNBC.