Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris halted a slew of coal leases in the so-called Powder River Basin (PRB) district of southern Montana and north-central Wyoming. See Western Org. of Resource Councils v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 2018 WL 1456624 (D. Mont.2018). PRB coal, for those in the know, is synonymous with […]
Read moreBeyond the Four Corners: Extending the Life of a Western Coal Belt
Jamison Colburn climate change, coal, inthenews, uncategorized coal, Four Corners, Navajo Mine, risk, social cost of carbon
Combined, the Navajo Generating Station, Four Corners Generating Station, and San Juan Generating Station make up a sizable portion of just about everything in their vicinity. Their emissions of greenhouse gases, conventional pollutants like particulates and NOx and SOx, and toxics like mercury, lead and selenium are enormous for the region. Their economic impact is […]
Read moreBreaking: It is Reasonably Foreseeable that Mined Coal Will be Burned
Jamison Colburn action agencies, CEQ Watch, coal, uncategorized CO2, coal, hard look, mining, Office of Surface Mining, risk
Besides skiing, endangered species habitat, and the rain shadow giving Boulder, Denver, and other parts of the Front Range their sunshine and abundant water, Colorado’s West Slope also secures its title of seventh largest coal producer in the Union. Two of Colorado’s three surface coal mines have made the news lately for big NEPA failures, […]
Read moreNEPA Analyses Shouldn’t Ignore the Obvious
The recent proposed guidance from the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) about factoring climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the typical NEPA routine elicited spirited comments from industry (and some others) opposing the proposal. One claim industry commenters made forcefully is that the judicial decisions construing NEPA § 102(2)(C)’s “significance” threshold have mostly […]
Read more