October 12, 2022
A federal judge in Montana has shut down litigation challenging the Biden administration's coal-leasing policies, two months after he found that the Bureau of Land Management did not fully consider the environmental impact of those rules and ordered it to examine them again.
August 12, 2022
A Montana federal judge Friday reinstated a halt on federal coal leasing that was imposed by the Obama administration and then gutted by the Trump administration, saying a federal review needs to be completed to analyze the environmental effects of rolling back the moratorium.
February 04, 2022
The Biden administration's decision to walk back a Trump-era order reversing a pause on federal coal sales hasn't, in turn, stopped new leasing, according to environmental groups and tribes that say their suit is plenty ripe to continue.
January 21, 2022
Wyoming and Montana have thrown their weight behind an effort to kill a lawsuit filed by environmentalists who want the Biden administration to put an end to federal coal leasing, arguing that the revocation of a Trump-era order makes the case moot.
January 14, 2022
Biden administration officials told a federal judge that lawsuits challenging the federal coal leasing program are moot since they've already revoked a Trump-era order to reopen public land to coal leasing and mining, while challengers berated the administration for driving its climate policy "into a brick wall" by refusing to issue a full moratorium on the program.
July 07, 2021
The National Mining Association has asked a Montana federal court to end challenges to a Trump-era move to restart the federal coal-leasing program, arguing that the matter is moot after the Biden administration revoked the order at issue.
June 03, 2021
A Montana federal judge on Thursday refused to pause litigation challenging a Trump-era U.S. Department of Interior decision restarting the federal coal-leasing program, ruling that ongoing coal leasing creates a "fair possibility" that a stay would damage those seeking to revive a ban on the practice.
May 19, 2021
Groups and states that oppose restarting the federal coal-leasing program told a Montana federal court that the Biden administration is wrongfully refusing to course-correct and is standing by the U.S. Department of the Interior's decision during the previous administration to lift a moratorium on leasing without proper environmental review.
July 20, 2020
Several state attorneys general, environmentalists and a Native American tribe on Monday regrouped and took another stab at attempting to revive an Obama-era moratorium on federal coal leasing after a federal judge recently shot down their initial attempt.
May 22, 2020
A Montana federal judge refused Friday to reinstitute an Obama-era moratorium on federal coal leasing, saying the Trump administration complied with his order to prepare an environmental review supporting its decision to lift the ban.