Opinion ID: 2647450
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Global Climate Change

Text: We turn first to the Appellants’ argument that the BLM did not take a hard look at the effect of its leasing decision on arguments in support of that claim. Cf. Am. Petroleum Inst. v. EPA, 72 F.3d 907, 911–12 (D.C. Cir. 1996). 15 global climate change.4 In the FEIS, the BLM discussed at length the prevailing scientific consensus on global climate change and coal mining’s contribution to it. The BLM estimated the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that occurred at the Antelope Mine in 2007 and projected emissions for a typical year of operations if the West Antelope II tracts are also leased. It projected that, with the addition of the West Antelope II tracts, Antelope Mine would account for only .63 per cent of state-wide emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). At the same time, the BLM noted that several factors made any projection about future emissions speculative. First, the BLM does not authorize mining through the issuance of a coal lease; rather, a mining permit must be obtained from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality with oversight from an independent federal agency, the Office of Surface Mining, and therefore mitigation measures can be imposed at a later stage. Joint Appendix (JA) 422–23; see 30 U.S.C. §§ 1253, 1273(c). The BLM further assumed that mining would continue at existing production rates and the coal would continue to be used to generate electricity by coal-fired power plants. Finally, the BLM identified considerable uncertainty about regulatory and technological developments that could affect future emissions. 4 The district court did not reach this issue and the Appellants therefore ask us to remand. The parties have briefed the issue, however, and at argument the Appellants indicated they have little more to add. The agency record is before us, our review of the district court’s decision post-remand would be de novo and we think the merits of the issue are clear. Indeed, the only purpose served by remand would be to satisfy the Appellants’ evident desire to delay mining on the West Antelope II tracts. We think it appropriate to resolve the issue now. See Friends of Blackwater v. Salazar, 691 F.3d 428, 434 n. (D.C. Cir. 2012). 16 The Appellants allege several inadequacies in the BLM analysis but they are of the flyspecking variety. First, they contend that the BLM’s estimate of Antelope Mine’s contribution to state-wide emissions failed to incorporate an analysis of the impact of these emissions, particularly their cumulative impact together with emissions from eleven other pending lease applications in the Powder River Basin. We think the BLM satisfied its obligation to consider “the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions.” 40