Judge dismisses lawsuit over Wyoming coal leases

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit 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 plans to sell leases on 2 billion tons of coal. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Monday dismissed the lawsuits, saying the groups failed to show that leasing the tracts would cause climate change that would specifically harm their interests. Beverly Gorny is spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Cheyenne. She says the leases were sold this year but haven't been mined yet. WildEarth Guardians Executive Director John Horning of Santa Fe, N.M., says his group plans to appeal.