BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal courts have delivered a string of rebukes to the Trump administration over what they found were failures to protect the environment and address climate change. The rulings have challenged the administration’s vociferous promotion of fossil fuel interests and natural resource extraction from public lands. Some of the most far-reaching rulings have come from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Montana. This month alone he canceled oil and gas leases on several hundred thousand acres and struck down a nationwide permitting program for new oil and gas pipelines. Despite the courtroom setbacks, the U.S. became the world’s top oil producer under Trump.
