(FORTUNE Magazine) – CHEYENNE -- The Interior Department . . . soon may have to determine whether flatulent sheep, cattle, and buffalo are contributing to global warming. The Washington-based Foundation on Economic Trends filed a lawsuit last year accusing the federal Agriculture, Interior, and Energy departments of failing to measure how much flatulent livestock are contributing to global warming by pumping methane gas into the atmosphere . . . ''It is basically known as the cow pie case,'' said the Interior Department's top lawyer, Tom Sansonetti . . . Sansonetti is taking the . . . fracas seriously, especially after losing an early round in court . . . ''We filed a motion to dismiss . . . and we lost. It's going to full trial on this issue,'' he told the Wyoming Stock Growers. -- From an AP dispatch.