Wyoming's approval of the coal-fired Dry Fork Station power plant near Gillette will be challenged in court because it will pollute the air and contribute to global warming, conservation groups claim in a news release.

The Wyoming Environmental Quality Council last week allowed Basin Electric to proceed with construction.

That brought objections from the Powder River Basin Resource Council in Sheridan, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm.

The court appeal seeks to require that the state Department of Environmental Quality regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the plant. The opponents say it will annually produce 3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide and 25.3 tons of methane.

"As one of the leading energy producers in the nation, we want Wyoming to also be a leader in addressing impacts from global warming pollution," Brad Mohrmann of the Wyoming Sierra Club said.