Sue and Settle is an end-run around the very democracy Democrats claim to want to defend.

When the Biden administration announced in 2022 that it would remove some 4 million acres of federal land in Western states from oil and gas exploration, environmental groups hailed the decision as a milestone in their fight against global warming.

“With the oil and gas industry bent on despoiling American’s public lands and fueling the climate crisis, this is a critical opportunity for the Biden administration to chart a new path toward clean energy and independence from fossil fuels,” said Jeremy Nichols, a director with WildEarth Guardians.

But Nichols could just as easily have slapped himself on the back: The administration’s move was part of a private settlement of a lawsuit filed by WildEarth and others over the objections of energy consortiums, whose efforts to intervene in the matter were dismissed.

Biden continues to restrict energy production while using the excuse of consent decrees resulting from settlements agreed to by the courts after environmentalists initiate litigation against a government agency, like the EPA or an agency under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. This, in turn, leads to declaring more federal lands that can result in reduced fossil fuel drilling, mining, or even a regulatory nightmare for property owners.

Worst of all, in most cases, environmentalist groups get what they want by being able to use litigation to bypass legislative or regulatory processes. As RCI points out, there has long been a revolving door between environmentalist groups and Democrat White Houses, and Biden is undoubtedly no exception. RCI reports that sue and settle originated during the Nixon Administration, the practice has become even more widespread today, and the end result is a massive expansion of government power and control.

With all of this in mind, the expansive powers federal agencies are assuming under Biden can an spark another property rights backlash similar to what occurred during the 1990’s. Four years ago, Biden had pitched himself as a unifier and pledged not to divide the country. It will be anything but unity since he is courting the Jacobins in his party because he needs them to get re-elected. It will be a losing strategy just like it was for the last corrupt Democrat from Pennsylvania who occupied the White House, James Buchanan.