Two environmental non-profit groups sued the Biden administration over the more than 3,500 oil and natural-gas drilling permits that it approved in Wyoming and New Mexico.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. by the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The two groups allege the government violated environmental laws by not taking the impact on climate change into account. They claim the approved wells will release up to 600 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions which will worsen climate change and damage native ecosystems.

Kyle Tisdel, climate and energy program director with the Western Environmental Law Center, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the nonprofits, said, “While President Biden has acknowledged the urgency of this crisis, it is time for action to align with rhetoric.”

Since oil and gas prices have been rising, the Biden administration has quietly encouraged drilling companies to increase production via federal land permits.

That has frustrated climate activists and environmental groups, who say Biden is abandoning his campaign pledges to end drilling on federal land and defend climate change action.

The lawsuit asks a judge to declare the permits to be unlawfully granted and invalidate them.

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