May 05, 2020
States, environmental groups and a Native American tribe on Tuesday told a Montana federal judge that the U.S. Department of the Interior's final environmental review for the Trump administration's bid to lift an Obama-era coal leasing moratorium doesn't pass legal muster.
February 27, 2020
The U.S. Department of the Interior released its final environmental review Wednesday for the Trump administration's bid to lift an Obama-era coal leasing moratorium, setting the stage to restart a Montana federal court challenge by states, environmental groups and a Native American tribe.
July 23, 2019
Challengers of a Trump administration move to lift an Obama-era coal leasing moratorium want a Montana federal judge to undo the policy change after he found it lacked an adequate environmental review, but the U.S. Department of the Interior is pleading for patience as it finalizes a replacement.
April 19, 2019
A Montana federal judge found Friday that a Trump administration decision to lift an Obama-era coal leasing moratorium without initiating the National Environmental Policy Act process was arbitrary and capricious.
November 19, 2018
The U.S. Department of the Interior has reiterated its argument to a Montana federal court that its move to lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing did not violate any environmental laws, saying the action did not cause the environmental and Native American groups that sued any direct harm.
September 20, 2018
Wyoming and Montana teamed up Wednesday in Montana federal court to oppose suits challenging an order from the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior lifting a moratorium on federal coal leasing, arguing the secretary is validly exercising administrative discretion to implement President Donald Trump's policy goals.
August 07, 2018
American economist Michael Greenstone has told a Montana federal court that advances in climate change science justify requiring a more thoughtful assessment from the U.S. Department of the Interior than it used in making its decision to lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing, pointing to the social costs of carbon and other greenhouse gases.
July 18, 2017
The state of Wyoming pushed Tuesday to step into a challenge to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's decision to lift the moratorium on the federal coal-leasing program imposed last year so that it can defend against seeing the freeze reinstated.
June 02, 2017
A Montana federal judge on Friday agreed to consolidate two cases challenging Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's decision in late March to lift the moratorium on the federal coal-leasing program imposed last year.
March 29, 2017
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Wednesday formally lifted the moratorium on the federal coal leasing program imposed last year, prompting an immediate legal challenge from environmental groups and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.