Appeals court ruled the US downplayed coal mine climate effects

On August 28, 2009, heavy equipment moves coal outside Signal Peak Energy's Bull Mountain mine near Roundup, Mont. A federal appeals court has ruled that US officials improperly downplayed the effects of coal-burning on climate change when they approved a large expansion at an underground Montana mine that would emit an estimated 190 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In a ruling issued Monday, April 4, 2022, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated that Interior Department officials "hid the ball" during the Trump administration by failing to fully account for emissions from burning the fuel. image Credit: AP

AP: A court ruled that US officials improperly downplayed the impacts of coal burning on climate change when they permitted a significant expansion of an underground Montana coal mine that would release an estimated 190 million tons of greenhouse gasses into the environment.

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Interior Department officials "hid the ball" during the Trump administration by failing to account for emissions from burning the fuel in a 2018 environmental analysis.

In 2017, a judge ruled against Signal Peak Energy's contentious Bull Mountain mine expansion but allowed mining to continue while a lawsuit brought by environmentalists was being heard.

The issue has been remanded to the district court level, where the fate of the mine's federal permit will be decided.

It's the latest in a long line of court rulings against the US government, dating back to the Obama administration, for failing to fully examine the climatic impacts of exploiting and burning fossil fuels.

The government was chastised by the appeals court for comparing mine emissions to total global emissions. Circuit Judge Morgan Christen observed that this technique "predestined that the emissions would appear quite minor."

In a dissenting opinion, Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson said the court should have deferred to the Interior Department's competence after agency officials assessed the expansion would not have a significant environmental impact.

The judgment might have implications for mines across the country, according to an attorney for environmental groups who fought the mining development.

The Montana Environmental Information Center's Derf Johnson said, "They have to examine the implications of spewing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon into the sky."

The mine near Roundup employs nearly 250 people and is a major employer in central Montana. According to court documents, the coal has been exported to countries such as South Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands.

Tyler Cherry, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, said the agency was examining the decision. Representatives from Signal Peak did not immediately reply to the verdict.

Last year, the Biden administration stated that it will investigate the climate consequences of a US coal leasing program that allows firms to harvest large coal reserves on public lands. It has also put a price on future climate damage caused by burning fossil fuels, putting the social cost of carbon at around $51 per ton of CO2 emitted.

Environmentalists sought a court order requiring officials to apply the social cost of carbon to Signal Peak's mine, but the court denied their motion, stating that the government had complete control over how effects are measured.

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