The lawsuit over
U.S. District Judge
But Watters said in her ruling Wednesday that officials failed to fully consider how burning the coal would contribute to climate change, known as the “social cost of carbon," a concept that places a dollar value on every ton of greenhouse gasses emitted.
Trump in 2017 issued an order for agencies not to use social cost of carbon estimates developed at the end of the Obama administration. Watters said the executive order did not excuse the government from considering those costs if they represent the best science.
“Federal agencies cannot ignore more accurate scientific information when it is available,” Watters wrote. A federal magistrate judge issued similar recommendations in 2019, but the case had been put on hold after former owner
Mining in the
“What this ruling really underscores is that the federal government’s management of coal is still a mess and highlights the need for Biden to make coal reform a priority," Nichols said.
On his first day in office, Biden ordered government agencies to account for damages caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions, including changes in farm productivity, human health and property damage from increased flood risk.
"An accurate social cost is essential for agencies to accurately determine the social benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions when conducting cost-benefit analyses," Biden wrote in his order.
A
The publicly owned land that's in dispute was leased by
Environmentalists sued when the mine expansion was approved, claiming climate change hadn’t been fully considered under the Obama administration. That led to a 2016 order for officials to re-examine the environmental impacts, and then another lawsuit when that study was completed.
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