Judge: Resumption of US coal sales by Trump needs review
Source: Associated Press
Judge: Resumption of US coal sales by Trump needs review
By MATTHEW BROWN
April 19, 2019
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration failed to consider potential damage to the environment from its decision to resume coal sales from U.S. lands, but the court stopped short of halting future sales.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Montana said Interior Department officials had wrongly avoided an environmental review of their action by describing it “as a mere policy shift.” In so doing, officials ignored the environmental effects of selling huge volumes of coal from public lands, the judge said.
The ruling marks another in a string of judicial setbacks for President Donald Trump’s attempts to boost North American energy production.
A previous order from Morris blocked the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would transport crude from Canada’s oil sands. Other courts have issued rulings against the administration’s plans for oil and gas leasing and coal mining.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/158a17ee8382461dbc5c610491c47064
= new reply since forum marked as read
