In the Rockies today, the Interior Department's establishment of solar-energy zones in six southwestern states is being challenged in federal court in California.
The three groups that filed the lawsuit said that the federal government should have considered siting solar-energy projects on already developed areas or "brownfields," rather than build industrial-sized installations on pristine desert areas.
Sightline.org delved into the financial records of Ambre Energy, the Australian coal company that is proposing building two coal export terminals on the West Coast, and found that the Australian company's energy investments over the past several years have failed to result in a profit.
Ambre Energy officials have accused the Seattle environmental group of engaging in "corporate character assassination," and said the company's losses are typical of any startup.
A Wyoming company has signed a deal to move up to 16 million metric tons of coal mined in Montana through the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point in Bellingham, Wash.., which SSA Marine is proposing to build, and have up and running by 2018.
In Colorado, The La Plata County Commission considering a moratorium on oil-shale wells to give the county time to assess how such wells will affect water resources and roads.
Also in the news, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signed legislation into law on Wednesday that makes a number of changes to the state's wolf management policies and hunting regulations, and in Wyoming, legislators sent a measure to Gov. Matt Mead that will allow hunters to use silencers.
Montana Public Radio's broadcast of The Write Question this evening at 7:30 features host Cherie Newman's interview with William E. Farr about his book "Blackfoot Redemption: A Blood Indian's Story of Murder, Confinement, and Imperfect Justice."
Farr is a Senior Fellow at the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West of which Mountain West News is a program.