"CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- A federal judge has dismissed a legal challenge from environmental groups that sought to block federal coal leases in Wyoming's Powder River Basin on the grounds that burning the coal would contribute to global warming."

"The Sierra Club and WildEarth Guardians had challenged the federal government's sale of leases on 2 billion tons of coal. The leases are on U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands near Arch Coal's Black Thunder mine and Peabody Energy's North Antelope Rochelle mine - two of the world's largest coal mines.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of Washington, D.C., on Monday dismissed two merged lawsuits, saying the groups lacked standing to sue because they failed to show leasing the tracts would cause climate change that would specifically harm their membership. The groups had claimed global warming from burning the coal would harm their recreational, aesthetic and economic interests. "

Ben Neary reports for the Associated Press August 2, 2012. [2]