U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet

The feds last night rejected the pleas of Coloradans and said they would not defend the Colowyo Mine by appealing the court order that threatens to shut down the operation and wreck havoc on the regional economy.

So that sucks.

Instead, bureaucrats will do what bureaucrats do best — reopen the company’s permit to make way for bureaucratic bungling, and even more opportunities for out-of-state radical activists to object to our way of life.

Meanwhile, Tri-State has challenged the decision of federal Judge R. Brooke Jackson asking for a stay pending appeal.

“I think everyone understands the importance of this issue, not just for the community around Colowyo mine, but the potential precedential nature,” said Drew Kramer, Tri-State public affairs manager. “It could affect all sorts of businesses operating on federal lands.”

Indeed.

Thanks to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s selection of Judge Jackson to sit on the bench that decided Colowyo’s fate, the door is wide open for every nutjob enviro group from around the country to stampede into our state and start filing lawsuits.

Now more than ever it is critical for voters to carefully weigh their selection in the 2016 Senate election.

If Colorado is awarded two additional federal judges as our delegation has requested, it’s our senators who hold the power to make or break a judicial nomination.

If Bennet is reelected, rest assured the courts will be stacked against Colorado’s favor.