Colorado Attorney General Threatens Sanctions for Rights of Nature Lawsuit

by | Nov 28, 2017 | Lobbying

IN AN ATTEMPT TO INTIMIDATE US AND SILENCE THE RIGHTS OF NATURE MOVEMENT, THE COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL HAS THREATENED SANCTIONS AGAINST OUT LAWSUIT, COLORADO RIVER V. COLORADO.

Editor’s note: The first Rights of Nature lawsuit in the United States, Colorado River v. Colorado, was filed September 25, 2017, in Denver, Colorado.  The full text of the complaint can be found here.

Denver, CO—The Colorado Attorney General has issued an ultimatum to the attorney who filed the first federal rights of nature law suit: voluntarily withdraw the Complaint or face sanctions.

“They didn’t threaten to sanction Exxon attorneys for lying about global warming, or Bank of America attorneys for fraudulently foreclosing on people’s homes, or Nestle attorneys for privatizing our water and selling it back to us—but try to equal the playing field between corporations and the environment and they try to personally damage you,” says Jason Flores-Williams. “It’s the playbook.”

Will Falk, a writer, attorney, and one of the next friends in the lawsuit, denounced the Attorney General’s threats, saying, “The Attorney General is duty-bound to work solely for the good of the people, but through these threats the Attorney General is working solely for the good of corporations.”

The response to the Attorney General stating the reasons for why the suit will not be withdrawn can be found here.

 

 

Jerry Brown Tells Indigenous Protesters in Bonn, “Let’s Put You in the Ground”

Jerry Brown Tells Indigenous Protesters in Bonn, “Let’s Put You in the Ground”

by | Nov 14, 2017 | Protests & Symbolic Acts

     by  / Intercontinental Cry 

Governor Jerry Brown doesn’t always deal with critics of his controversial environmental policies well — and that was the case again on Saturday, November 11, when he spoke at the UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany. Californians, including indigenous water protectors and those on the frontlines of climate change, disrupted California Governor Jerry Brown’s speech at the “American’s Pledge” event at the UN climate talks to confront his strong support of fossil fuels in his state.

The banner-carrying protesters yelled, “Keep it in the ground” and other chants, referring to the governor’s strong support of fracking, both offshore and on land in California, and cap-and-trade policies that could prove catastrophic to the Huni Kui People of Acre, Brazil and other indigenous communities around the globe.

“I wish we have could have no pollution, but we have to have our automobiles,” said Brown as the activists began disrupting his talk.

“In the ground, I agree with you,” Brown said. “In the ground. Let’s put you in the ground so we can get on with the show here.”

“This is very California. Thanks for bringing the diversity of dissent here,” the visibly disturbed Brown continued.

A video of Brown’s reaction to the protest is available at the Sacremento Bee.

This is not the first time that Brown has employed harsh words to blast his opponents. On July 25 of this year, Brown blasted critics of his oil industry-written cap-and-trade bill, AB 398, for practicing “forms of political terrorism that are conspiring to undermine the American system of governance” in an interview with David Greene of NPR (National Public Radio).

Governor Brown, portrayed as “a green governor,” “climate hero,” and “resistance to Trump” by the mainstream media and corporate “environmental” NGOs, has come to the climate talks to promote California as a global model of “climate leadership” at a time when increasing number of Californians are fed up with his pro-Big Oil and pro-Big Ag environmental policies.

“When cities and states combine together and then join with powerful corporations, that’s how we get stuff done,” said Governor Brown at Saturday’s event at the U.S. Climate Action Pavilion, the exhibition space sponsored by U.S. non-federal leaders at COP23. “We’re here, we’re in and we’re not going away.”

However, Indigenous Peoples, frontline communities, environmentalists and climate activists disagreed strongly with Brown’s contention that cities and states collaborating with “powerful corporations” is “how we get stuff done” – and held this non-violent direct action to expose Brown’s deep ties to Big Oil and ‘false solutions” such as carbon markets.

“From refusing to ban fracking to letting oil companies dump toxic waste into underground water supplies, Governor Brown promotes policies that incentivize oil and gas production in the state,” according to a news release from the Indigenous Environmental Network. “His cap-and-trade extension includes provisions written by oil lobbyists that prevent state and local agencies from directly limiting carbon emissions from oil refineries. He has also failed to shut down the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, where the largest methane leak in U.S. history forced thousands to flee their homes in 2015.”

On November 9, a Center for Biological Diversity report released at the Bonn conference revealed that three-quarters of California’s oil is as “climate-damaging” as Canadian tar sands crude. “Oil Stain: How Dirty Crude Undercuts California’s Climate Progress” found that eight of the state’s 10 largest-producing oil fields produce “very dirty crude with greenhouse gas emissions comparable to tar sands oil,” according to the Center. The report detailed how “the state’s dirty oil problem is compounded by policies that incentivize crude production.”

The groups called on Governor Brown to ban new drilling and fracking, phase out fossil fuel production, and commit to “a just transition to clean energy for all.”

“Northern California has five refineries stretching along our Bay on the North East side of San Francisco,” said Daniel Ilario, Idle No More SF/Bay Area. “Those living along this Refinery Corridor experience continuous negative health effects such as respiratory problems, birth defects, leukemia and cancers. California’s answer to our global climate crisis, the Cap and Trade extension (AB 398), will continue allowing refineries to expand, pollute, and ultimately destroy life.”

“The Phillips 66 Refinery in Rodeo, CA plans to expand their marine terminal to increase crude oil imports by water from 30,000 barrels a day to 130,000 barrels a day. We will not let this happen. Decision makers around the world need to understand that Governors Jerry Brown’s carbon market scheme will continue killing our people and poisoning our water, air, and soil. We will not accept the false solution of carbon trading that increase pollution in our hometowns while violating indigenous rights and human rights around the world. We must keep fossil fuels in the ground,” said Ilario.

Ninawa Nuneshuni Kui, President of the Huni Kui People of Acre, Brazil, said Brown’s “American Pledge,” based on environmentally unjust carbon trading, would lead to the displacement of his people and the destruction of his land.

“I wanted to leave a message here, for humanity and all of planet, that the peoples need to join to defend Mother Nature, the soil, water and air because they are being threatened,” said Ninawa Nuneshuni Kui, President of the Huni Kui People of Acre, Brazil. “And humanity needs Nature to survive. So I want to say that Nature and the air are not a means of commerce for anyone and it’s every human’s right to live in peace. Jerry Brown’s ‘American Pledge’ will lead to the displacement of my people and the destruction of my territory. We need to respect the rights of Nature and humans beings that need her to survive.”

Eva Malis, a young person from Valencia, CA, pointed out that Californians have been asking Governor Brown for years to step up and “be a true climate leader.”

“If he is going to be celebrated by the world as a climate leader, he needs to commit to the communities on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction. Real climate leaders don’t frack. This isn’t just about Californians. The world needs Jerry Brown to do more in his own state,” said Malis.

“California Governor Jerry Brown is one of the biggest liars when it comes to being a ‘climate leader,’” summed up Isabelle Zizi of Idle No More SF Bay. “In 2014, hundreds of our drinking water and agricultural aquifers were contaminated with 3 billion gallons of fracking wastewater. The cap and trade bill that he passed in the summer of 2017 is in favor of more greenhouse gas emissions, more offsets for the fossil fuel industry, and is a false solution to stop climate change.”

Zizi is in Bonn for the UN Climate Talks. Follow her for updates on actions from the #ItTakesRoots delegation of Indigenous people, frontline communities and people of color.

While Brown portrays himself as a “climate leader,” he has in fact received over $9.8 million in contributions from oil, gas and utility companies, often within days of winning big political favors, according to Consumer Watchdog’s “Brown’s Dirty Hands” report released in August 2016.

“The timing of energy industry donations around important legislation and key pro-industry amendments, as well as key regulatory decisions in which Brown personally intervened, raises troubling questions about whether quid pro quos are routine for this administration,” said consumer advocate Liza Tucker, report author. “While Brown paints himself as a foe of fossil fuels, his Administration promoted reckless oil drilling, burning dirty natural gas to make electricity, and used old hands from industry and government, placed in key regulatory positions, to protect the fossil fuel-reliant energy industry.”

The report claims that twenty-six energy companies including the state’s three major investor-owned utilities, Occidental, Chevron, and NRG—all with business before the state—donated $9.8 million to Jerry Brown’s campaigns, causes, and initiatives, and to the California Democratic Party since he ran for Governor.

Then on February 6 of this year, twelve public interest groups, led by Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water Watch, unveiled a comprehensive “report card” on Jerry Brown Administration’s environmental record showing he falls short in six out of seven key areas, including oil drilling, fossil fuel generated electricity, toxic emissions, the California Environmental Quality Act, coastal protection and water.

The report calls for a moratorium on the building of natural gas powered electricity plants, given what they described as “the glut of electric capacity,” and calls for an outside audit of the state’s energy needs. The groups showed how California can improve its environmental protections to meet standards set in other states. The document also urged Brown to abandon his Delta Tunnels project, a plan to construct two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and to make water conservation a priority.

While Brown portrays himself as the “resistance” to President Trump’s positions on climate change and other issues, it is worth noting that Brown and the Trump administration appear to share a lot of common ground on many issues, including water infrastructure, public lands, the Delta Tunnels and the expansion of fracking in California. On April 13, Brown and Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke had a “positive and productive” meeting during the Secretary’s visit to California, according to Zinke.

For more information on Jerry Brown’s environmental policies, read: Behind Jerry Brown’s green facade lurks dirty oil and environmental injustice
New York State Wins Latest Round in Battle with Pipeline & Federal Agency

New York State Wins Latest Round in Battle with Pipeline & Federal Agency

by | Nov 4, 2017 | Lobbying

     by Protect Orange County and Stop the Minisink Compression Station

In a move that is being widely celebrated by both activists and national environmental rights groups, this afternoon, the US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit in NY issued an emergency stay of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) “Notice to Proceed with Construction”, issued on October 27, 2017 to the Millennium Valley Lateral Pipeline. The stay halts construction activities until a hearing can be held by a three judge panel.

The pipeline is intended to serve a controversial fracked gas power plant under construction by Competitive Power Ventures in Orange County NY. The battle between the State of New York and FERC over approval of the pipeline reflects an escalating conflict between impacted communities and environmental activists on the one side, and the powerful gas industry along with FERC, an agency described by opponents as a “rubberstamp” arm of the industry, on the other. Opponents of pipeline projects across the country argue that FERC systematically disregards adverse environmental impacts and see the authority of the state’s as the only means to control what they consider “reckless” approvals.

The stay is the latest legal salvo by NYS in response to repeated attempts by Millennium Pipeline to upend the state’s sole authority under federal law to determine 401 Water Quality Certification.  In August, 2017, the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation pursuant to the Federal Clean Water Act, a Section 401 Water Quality Certificate for the construction of the Millennium Valley Lateral Pipeline. The 7.8 mile pipeline would traverse NY wetlands and endangered species habitat in Orange County, NY, while supplying fracked gas from PA to the plant.

Taking their cue from an administration with little regard for the rule of law, on September 15, 2 Trump appointed FERC commissioners overrode NYSDEC’s authority over the water quality permit. FERC’s authority under the Natural Gas Act does not the pre-empt the authority of a state over the Clean Water Act. “It’s like trying to use a U.S. passport to drive a car in NYS”, says Pramilla Malick, of Protect Orange County, the community group leading the opposition. “While FERC may have siting authority, only the state can permit any activity that could impact water quality.”

Last week the agency pushed the envelope further by issuing the notice to proceed with construction of the pipeline despite pending motions by the NYSDEC before the commission. Malick expressed outrage at this action. “FERC routinely violates the fourteenth amendment rights of citizens but this is the first time they’ve ever violated the due process rights of a state.”

In an earlier statement Malick described FERC’s approval as an “Act of war against both the State of New York and the Federal Clean Water Act”.  Her group urged Governor Cuomo to fight FERC’s federal overreach.

Malick  lauded state leaders today, “We are deeply grateful to Governor Cuomo, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, and General Counsel for NYSDEC, Thomas Berkman for courageously fighting for the state’s right to protect its natural resources despite the heavy handed rebuke of the gas lobby.”

Today’s stay was issued with some urgency, as word spread in the local community that Millennium, acting swiftly on FERC’s illegal notice, began marking tree clearing areas that opponents claim would destroy a significant amount of endangered species habitat as well as a mating eagle’s nest.  Activists vowed to take any actions necessary to prevent construction from beginning.

Citizens and environmentalists have long been urging Governor Cuomo to take action to shut down CPV, which is situated in Wawayanda, NY, on the edge of NY’s renowned Black Dirt farmland, and near pristine water resources. Opponents of the CPV project assert that this populated and environmentally sensitive location will suffer irreparable harm from the plant’s daily emissions, in a region with declining energy demands.

Upon news of the stay Protect Orange County issued the following statement:

“Now more than ever, as we witness the dire global consequences of climate change; as clean water, air and soil resources are sacrificed to the greed of polluting fossil fuel giants; as our current administration in Washington, DC, continues to deny climate science, rolling back environmental protections, obstructing efforts to move toward clean energy, while winking at the lawlessness of big energy polluters, we need responsive and courageous local leaders to defend our resources with every means that the law allows. Today, our state leaders, led by the Governor, advanced the interests of the citizens of Orange County and New York State by acting decisively on behalf of the people, and not in the interest of corporate polluters.”

Ironically also in yesterday’s news the Senate confirmed the remaining two FERC nominees creating a complete 5 member commission.  Environmentalists had hoped the nomination process would included hearings on a long list of abuses by the agency over the rights of impacted communities.

 

First Hearing in Colorado River v. Colorado

First Hearing in Colorado River v. Colorado

by | Nov 3, 2017 | Lobbying, NEWS

Editor’s note: The Rights of Nature movement has arrived in the United States! On September 25, Deep Green Resistance, with noted civil rights attorney Jason Flores-Williams, filed a first-in-the-nation lawsuit – Colorado River v. Colorado – seeking personhood for the Colorado River and recognition of the river’s rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and naturally evolve in the United States District Court, District of Denver. While courts in India, New Zealand, and Ecuador have granted rights to ecosytems, this lawsuit represents the first Rights of Nature action ever brought before a federal court. If the case succeeds, the natural world will gain a powerful new tool in the struggle to stop corporate exploitation.

Denver, CO—For the first time in U.S. legal history, a natural entity itself will stand as a party before the court. The first hearing in Colorado River v. Colorado will address emerging legal issues in rights of nature litigation as well as the Attorney General’s Motion to Dismiss.

“You can try to dismiss a complaint,” says attorney Jason Flores-Williams, “But you can’t dismiss reality.”

Prior to the hearing, there will be a press conference at 9:00 a.m. at the federal courthouse featuring statements from members of Deep Green Resistance, serving as “next friends” to the Colorado in this action. Fair trade coffee provided at the courthouse with an event to follow 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mercury Café located 2199 California St, Denver, CO 80205.

The Mercury Café event will: 1) Provide a guide for groups to file their own rights of nature litigation; 2) Feature a discussion on the rights of nature and creative resistance.  The hearing will be at  10:00 a.m. November 14th, 2017 Ctrm C204, Alfred J. Arraj Courthouse, 901 19th St., Denver, CO 80294.

Media inquiries:

Law Office of Jason Flores-Williams

303-514-4524

Editor’s note: you can find the Facebook event here and read the full text of the complaint, Colorado River v. Colorado, here.

Photo by Gert Boers on Unsplash

Challenge to AIM Pipeline Approval Goes to DC Circuit Court

Challenge to AIM Pipeline Approval Goes to DC Circuit Court

by | Oct 24, 2017 | Lobbying

     by Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion
  
Washington, D.C.– Two and half years after asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reverse its decision to permit construction of the “Algonquin” Pipeline Expansion, residents are finally getting their day in court. Ellen Weininger  from Westchester County, New York made the trip to DC Circuit Court for oral arguments Thursday. “From its inception Spectra’s massive Algonquin pipeline expansion violated federal law to avoid a full review of its cumulative impacts.  While the courts finally hear oral arguments on the case today in D.C., tens of millions of people in New York and across New England, living and working in the pipeline’s path, continue to remain in harm’s way.”
 
FERC approved the first phase of Spectra Energy’s massive pipeline expansion in March of 2015. The project, dubbed the “Algonquin” Incremental Market Expansion (AIM) was just the first of a three part expansion designed to increase the volume of fracked gas carried by the “Algonquin” system to facilitate export of ‘natural’ gas overseas. From April of 2015 until January 2016 a “Tolling Order” issued by FERC blocked residents from proceeding with legal action to challenge the approval. Since then, residents from New York to Massachusetts have been waiting for their day in court. Today, lawyers representing grassroots organizations, including SAPE, the non-profit organization Riverkeeper, the City of Boston, and the Town of Dedham, MA will present oral arguments in the case.
 
In the intervening two and a half years much has happened. The AIM segment of the expansion was built despite being fraught with delays and violations of environmental law, plagued by whistleblower accusations of cutting corners to speed up construction. Spectra, parent company of “Algonquin” Transmission was purchased by Canadian oil and gas giant Enbridge, a partner in the Dakota Access Pipeline. The second segment of the expansion, dubbed Atlantic Bridge because it will serve as a “bridge” to carry fracked gas through New England to Canada, was approved by FERC, and just last week, despite missing numerous permits in Massachusetts, Spectra began work in New York and asked FERC to put certain portions into operation. The third segment of the pipeline expansion, Access Northeast, was halted due to an unconstitutional attempt to pass construction costs onto electric ratepayers in Massachusetts.
 
Despite all of this, residents and environmental groups persisted in their fight to stop Spectra on the grounds that the approval of the AIM project violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and endangered millions living around Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan, NY. “Every day we live with the risk of this pipeline next to the elementary school, the nuclear power plant, the church, and before we can even get our day in court, FERC gives Spectra permission to pick up where they left off with AIM by just changing the project name to Atlantic Bridge. Same pipe, same place, same project,” said Courtney Williams, a resident of Peekskill, NY.
 
NEPA requires that FERC consider the cumulative environmental impacts of the projects it considers. Challengers contend that the AIM project was merely the first step in a massive expansion of the pipeline, arbitrarily broken into the parts to avoid a full accounting of the impacts it would have. Indeed marketing materials for the projects show they follow-on one another in time and location like pieces of a puzzle, clearly interconnected.
 
There is precedent for this kind of wrong-doing being overturned in the District Court. In 2015 Delaware Riverkeeper challenged FERC’s approval of the Northeast Upgrade project on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline on the grounds that it didn’t consider the cumulative environmental impacts of other expansion projects being considered at the time. In the case of the “Algonquin” expansion, while the tolling order was in place on the AIM project, Atlantic Bridge was under consideration and Access Northeast was in ‘pre-filing’ with FERC. “All three projects had FERC docket numbers simultaneously. FERC can’t pretend they didn’t know that Spectra intended to enlarge the entire length of the ‘Algonquin’ Pipeline,” said Williams, a scientist and member of SAPE from Peekskill.
 
The other major concern of New York residents involved in the legal challenge is the proximity of the pipeline to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. The new segment of the “Algonquin” Pipeline runs underneath the Indian Point property and passes only 105 feet from critical safety infrastructure at the plant. “The approval of the Spectra AIM project was based on a faulty analysis by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the co-location of the gas pipeline and the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. FERC ignored Richard Kuprewicz, the nationally recognized pipeline safety expert’s conclusion that the risk of a pipeline rupture could cause a catastrophic release of radiation,” said Susan Van Dolsen, a co-founder of SAPE. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo agreed, ordering an as yet unreleased risk assessment be conducted by state agencies and asking FERC to halt construction. FERC refused, and the risk assessment, ordered in February 2016 has still not been released by the Governor.
 
Located only 35 miles north of New York City, a pipeline accident at Indian Point could endanger upwards of 20 million people who live and work in the New York metropolitan area. Pipeline ruptures are a routine occurrence in the United States, with new pipelines built since 2010 failing at higher rates than older pipelines. Despite elected officials at the local, state, and Federal level calling on FERC to halt construction and conduct an independent risk assessment, they were ignored and construction continued. Even as New York State works to shut down Indian Point, 2700 tons of irradiated spent fuel will be stored on the site indefinitely. A rupture of the “Algonquin” pipeline burning that nuclear waste would rival the worst nuclear disasters in history.
 
Residents say they are not surprised that these critical legal and safety issues were overlooked. They cite extensive reporting by investigative journalist Itai Vardi at DeSmog Blog which has revealed numerous conflicts of interest, with FERC commissioners having vested financial interests in the pipeline companies or those hired to conduct environmental reviews.
 
Nancy Vann, whose Reynolds Hills community had property taken by “Algonquin” by eminent domain drove home the need for reforming the system that approved this project, “We are finally getting our day in court (actually just 20 minutes) after four long years of struggling to bring FERC’s attention to the unconscionable danger posed by this unnecessary project. We must not let our rights to a clean and safe environment be further eroded for the profits of a handful of fossil fuel company executives. We need elected officials who will stand up for us on every level of government to stop the slide toward nuclear catastrophe, irreversible climate change and planetary devastation. The world is watching us.”

Invitation to Attend First-Ever Federal Rights of Nature Court Hearing

by | Oct 12, 2017 | Protests & Symbolic Acts

     by Deep Green Resistance Southwest Coalition

The Rights of Nature movement has arrived in the United States! On September 25, Deep Green Resistance, with noted civil rights attorney Jason Flores-Williams, filed a first-in-the-nation lawsuit – Colorado River v. Colorado – seeking personhood for the Colorado River and recognition of the river’s rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and naturally evolve in the United States District Court, District of Denver. While courts in India, New Zealand, and Ecuador have granted rights to ecosytems, this lawsuit represents the first Rights of Nature action ever brought before a federal court. If the case succeeds, the natural world will gain a powerful new tool in the struggle to stop corporate exploitation.

We invite everyone who loves the Colorado River and the natural world who gives us life to pack the courthouse with us. We want to send a strong message to the judge, the State of Colorado, and the nation that it’s time the American legal system honor the Rights of Nature. The first hearing in the case has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 14 at 10 AM (mountain):

Magistrate Judge Nina Y. Wang

Byron G. Rogers Courthouse C253

1929 Stout Street

Denver, CO 80294

This moment presents an opportunity to change the future of American environmental law while securing a foothold for the Rights of Nature movement in this country. Please join us in Denver to defend the Colorado River.

Find the Facebook event here.