The Interior Department doesn’t have to consider the effects its federal coal leasing program is having on climate change, a federal appeals court ruled June 19.
The ruling is a win for the Trump administration, which has been trying to do everything it can to boost the struggling coal industry. It also bucks a recent string of court decisions linking extractive industries to climate change.
Despite the legal victory, however, the debate over coal leasing is largely moot, because almost no new coal leases are being sold. A new mine would require huge upfront infrastructure costs, and many large coal ...