By Matthew Brown / Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. — Four states with climate change worries are due in a U.S. courtroom in Montana this week as they try to stop the Trump administration from selling coal from federal lands.
Attorneys for California, New Mexico, New York and Washington state say the sales put the climate at risk and shortchange taxpayers.
The states were joined by environmentalists and Montana’s Northern Cheyenne tribe in a lawsuit that would revive a coal leasing moratorium imposed under President Barack Obama.
The Trump administration says ending the moratorium was critical for the economy despite falling demand for the fuel.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris is presiding over a Thursday hearing in the case. He recently ruled in another case that the Trump administration must consider reduced coal mining to help combat climate change.
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