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Omaha Steve

(99,073 posts)
Fri May 22, 2020, 09:57 PM May 2020

Judge nixes bid to stop coal sales that Trump revived

Source: AP

By MATTHEW BROWN

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A judge threw out a lawsuit on Friday from a coalition of states, environmental groups and American Indians which sought to revive an Obama-era moratorium against U.S. government coal sales on public lands in the West.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris said President Donald Trump’s administration had fixed its initial failure to consider the consequences for climate change from ending the moratorium. Acting under an earlier order in the case, the administration in February released an analysis that said the decision to resume coal sales would make little difference over time in greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, a contention critics said was flawed.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued the administration only considered emissions from a handful of leases and failed to capture the cumulative, long-term impact of the coal program.

But Morris declined to weigh in on the accuracy of the administration’s conclusions. He said the February analysis was enough to fulfill the administration’s immediate legal obligations. Any review of whether it was flawed would require a new lawsuit, he added.



FILE - In this April 4, 2013 file photo, a truck carrying 250 tons of coal hauls the fuel to the surface of the Spring Creek mine near Decker, Mont. A judge threw out a lawsuit on Friday, May 22, 2020, from a coalition of states, environmental groups and American Indians which sought to revive an Obama-era moratorium against U.S. government coal sales on public lands in the West. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris said President Donald Trump's administration had fixed its initial failure to consider the environmental impacts of ending the moratorium. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown,File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/a6e5152b018354e337c47a3ccc8a1dd7

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Judge nixes bid to stop coal sales that Trump revived (Original Post) Omaha Steve May 2020 OP
Appeal and start a new lawsuit. sinkingfeeling May 2020 #1
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris, no friend of the human race. Judi Lynn May 2020 #2
This seems to be a rather narrow ruling on the case by an Obama appointee with a somewhat different Ford_Prefect May 2020 #3
Who's actually using coal anymore? paleotn May 2020 #4
Coal is used for more then just electricity. OneCrazyDiamond May 2020 #5
In certain industries it's necessary... paleotn May 2020 #6

Ford_Prefect

(7,828 posts)
3. This seems to be a rather narrow ruling on the case by an Obama appointee with a somewhat different
Sat May 23, 2020, 08:15 AM
May 2020

record otherwise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Morris_(judge)

Notable state court decisions
In 2009, Morris wrote the 6–1 decision in Kulstad v. Maniaci, in which the Court ruled in favor of a woman's right to joint custody rights of two children adopted by her same-sex partner during their relationship.[12][13]

In 2010, he wrote the 4–1 decision in Wilson v. Montana that denying an inmate the use of a particular mental illness medication did not violate the criminal's rights.[14][15]

And:

Notable (Federal) rulings
In November 2018 Morris issued an order to stop the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline so that further research could be done on its environmental effects.[18]

In July 2019 Morris issued an order overturning a rule issued by the Internal Revenue Service that allowed 501(c)(4) "social-welfare" organizations to shield the identities of their political donors.[19]






paleotn

(17,781 posts)
4. Who's actually using coal anymore?
Sat May 23, 2020, 10:55 AM
May 2020

Luddites. Not only is it dirty, it's expensive for power generators. All the hauling, moving around, piling coal ash, maintaining scrubbers and other equipment, it's a pain in the ass. Even if you eliminate all clean air regs, it's still more maintenance intensive to burn coal. All that cost doesn't exist if you burn nat. gas.

OneCrazyDiamond

(2,029 posts)
5. Coal is used for more then just electricity.
Sat May 23, 2020, 11:10 AM
May 2020

Electricity is its single biggest use, but we use it for carbothermal reduction. Without it, I suspect they would be using trees.

paleotn

(17,781 posts)
6. In certain industries it's necessary...
Sat May 23, 2020, 11:23 AM
May 2020

In electricity generation, by far the biggest historical user, it's a dead man walking. The only reasons some generators are still burning it are limits on annual capital expansion and to squeeze as much as possible out of their existing asset base. Remove those limiting factors, and coal fired power generation would have gone the way of buggy whips years ago.

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