WildEarth Guardians lost another battle in their war on Coal in Colorado as Interior Department officials gave the thumbs up for Trapper Mine to expand operations near Craig.

To recap, the national environmental group in federal court challenged the Trapper Mine’s existence as well as that of the Colowyo Mine, forcing taxpayers to pay gobs of money to conduct more studies and collect public input from greenies who hate coal-fired electricity and prefer to watch TV on their computes in the dark.

“The Department of Interior’s assessment confirmed that Trapper has no significant impact on air or water quality. And once reclamation is complete, Trapper has virtually no lasting effect on the surface area in and around the mine — and in many cases actually improves the habitat for wildlife,” said Jim Mattern, Trapper Mining’s president and general manager.

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton led the fight to support ongoing coal operations, backed by U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is running for reelection and running away as fast as he can from the fact that he recommended President Obama nominate the judge who got the mines into this mess.

Reading between the lines of his statement allegedly supporting the approval, we see that the only thing he advocated for, was to conclude the unnecessary studies that enviros wanted in order to shut down the mine, in a timely manner.

We celebrated Trapper’s success by turning on every light in our house, confident that our next electricity bill won’t break our bank.