WildEarth Guardians v. Jewell

WildEarth Guardians filed a petition for review in the federal district court for the District of Colorado, seeking to vacate federal approvals of a lease to expand and extend the life of the Skyline Mine, an underground coal mine in Utah. WildEarth Guardians alleged that the United States Bureau of Land Management, which issued the lease, and the United States Forest Service, which consented to the lease’s issuance, had not complied with NEPA or the Mineral Leasing Act. WildEarth Guardians alleged that the agencies’ environmental review relied on an analysis that was 15 years old, and had failed to consider air quality and climate impacts, including climate impacts associated with coal mining, transport, and burning. The organization also alleged that the agencies had failed to consider costs associated with carbon dioxide emissions and had failed to consider cumulative climate impacts of similar mining approvals and proposals.