"Appeals Court Upholds Obama's Crackdown on Mountaintop Mining"

"A federal appeals court [Friday] sided with U.S. EPA in a broad challenge from two states and the mining industry to controversial Obama administration policies aimed at addressing the environmental effects on waterways of mountaintop-removal coal mining.

The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is a major win for the administration and reverses a lower court ruling siding with West Virginia, Kentucky and a host of mining interests.

At issue are two policies issued shortly after President Obama took office that sought to address water contamination near mining operations by placing more stringent requirements on Clean Water Act permits."

Jeremy P. Jacobs and Manuel Quiñones report for Greenwire July 11, 2014.