The Latest: Groups sue to stop Trump's effort to boost coal

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - The Latest on legal challenges to President Donald Trump's efforts to roll back steps taken by his predecessor to curb global warming. (all times local):

2 p.m.

Environmental groups and a Montana American Indian tribe are asking a federal court to block President Donald Trump from lifting restrictions on the coal industry that were imposed by his predecessor.

Attorneys for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Sierra Club and other groups sued Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Montana challenging Trump's order to resume coal lease sales on federal lands.

Under former President Barack Obama the Interior Department declared a moratorium on new lease sales to review coal's contribution to climate change and whether taxpayers were getting a fair return from mining companies.

Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke said Wednesday that the days of targeting the coal industry with punitive restrictions are over.

Earthjustice attorney Jenny Harbine says lifting the moratorium would worsen climate change and allow coal to be sold too cheaply.

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12 a.m.

Environmental groups are preparing to go to court to battle President Donald Trump's efforts to roll back his predecessor's plans to curb global warming.

They've hired scores of new lawyers and have been raising money for months.

But they say their first order of business is to mobilize a public backlash against an executive order Trump signed on Tuesday that eliminates many restrictions of fossil fuel production.

It includes a review of former President Barack Obama's signature plan to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants and lifts a 14-month-old moratorium on new coal leases on federal lands.

Industry officials praised the orders, saying they will bring back jobs, especially in coal mining.

Environmentalists say that is short-sighted because the economy is already shifting to clean energy, and it's not what most Americans want.