9th Circuit Backs Environmentalists’ NEPA Claims On Coal Mine’s GHGs

A split appellate panel is backing environmentalists’ claims that the Interior Department (DOI) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it approved a massive coal mine expansion and determined its greenhouse gas effects would be insignificant, setting a precedent that environmentalists say will require more-robust GHG reviews. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit stops short of requiring DOI’s Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to use the social cost of carbon (SCC) metric to...