Environmentalists Appeal Ruling Upholding Coal Review That Omits SCC

Environmental groups are appealing an adverse district court decision that the Interior Department did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it rejected using the social cost of carbon (SCC) tool to monetize the greenhouse gas emissions from a major coal mine expansion. The dispute -- which focuses on whether federal officials arbitrarily declined to use the measure to assess climate-related costs even though they calculated the project’s benefits -- mirrors prior legal skirmishes over the adequacy of...