Residents of Montana won’t have to vote again on a 1998 ban on the use of cyanide in open-pit gold mines. The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday chose not to consider an appeals court ruling that upheld the voter-approved ban. A corporate spending cap on initiative campaigns in Montana prevented mining companies from throwing their full weight into the anti-ban effort, but right before voters okayed the ban, the spending limits were found to be unconstitutional. The companies then sued for a revote, claiming they hadn’t had enough time to “counteract the effects of their prolonged, state-coerced silence.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the industry’s arguments, and the Supreme Court let that ruling stand.
