CABINET/CLIMATE CHANGE/INTERIOR/TRUMP PEOPLE/RYAN ZINKE: “Four U.S. states have sued Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the Interior Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to block new leases of public lands for coal mining, according to papers filed on Tuesday in Montana federal court.
State prosecutors for California, New Mexico, New York and Washington are arguing new coal extraction would exacerbate global warming and violate the federal government’s statutory duty to use public lands ‘in a manner that will protect the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource, and archaeological values,’ according to the filings.
The move was one of several recent attempts to block a broad pledge by U.S. President Donald Trump to roll back environmental regulations put in place under former President Barack Obama. The former president placed a moratorium on new coal mining leases on public lands more than a year ago, in January 2016.
On March 29, Zinke, whom Trump appointed Interior secretary, formally lifted the ban.”
-Emily Flitter, “Four U.S. states sue Interior Department over coal leases on public lands,” Reuters, May 10, 2017 12:33pm