energy

A Billings-based conservation group filed a lawsuit Tuesday over a Trump administration committee reviewing royalty payments on fossil fuels from public lands.

The Western Organization of Resource Councils claims the Royalty Policy Committee is stacked with industry supporters who conduct some meetings in secret. It’s asking a federal judge to disband the committee and throw out its recommendations.

A new study funded in part by the coal industry says shutting down of Colstrip’s two newer, larger coal-fired electricity generators in the next decade could have a huge impact statewide.

Colstrip’s two older units, 1 and 2, will shut down no later than July 2022 because of a Clean Air Act lawsuit settlement. But the future of the newer units, 3 and 4, remains uncertain.

Groups suing to stop the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline made their arguments in federal court in Great Falls Thursday. They’re asking a judge to void the Trump administration’s permit approving the project crossing the U.S.- Canada border.