"A Montana judge said the Trump administration’s environmental analysis was flawed and ordered leasing temporarily suspended".

"A federal judge on Friday ordered the Interior Department to pause the issuing of new coal leases, handing a victory to climate advocates who for years have fought to restore an Obama-era moratorium on coal mining on federal land.

In his ruling, Judge Brian Morris of the United States District Court for the District of Montana wrote that under the Trump administration, the department failed to study the full environmental effects of permitting more mining, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

Morris’s order reinstates a 2016 freeze on new federal coal lease sales, which President Donald Trump lifted two months after taking office. The move was part of Trump’s effort to fulfill his campaign promise to promote American production of coal."

Anna Phillips reports for the Washington Post August 12, 2022. [2]