Teens ‘shocked’ to win lawsuit against government

July 1, 2015, www.king5.com | “A group of teenagers has convinced a King County superior court judge to order the Washington State Department of Ecology to consider statewide reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.  They say they’re shocked but also excited.”

Jay LiningerGoodNews FortheEarth
Local court affirms public trust in government responsibility to ensure general welfare. State response is subject to politics.
The King County judge has ordered the Washington Department of Ecology to consider statewide reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.
king5.com
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Ban upheld: Avatar tribe ‘to decide’ future of Vedanta mine

India's Supreme Court has recognized the Dongria Kondh's right to worship their sacred mountain in a landmark decision.

April 18, 2013, www.survivalinternational.org | “In a landmark ruling, the Indian Supreme Court today rejected an appeal to allow Vedanta Resources to mine the Niyamgiri hills. In a complex judgement, the court decreed that those most affected by the proposed mine should have a decisive say in whether it goes ahead.”

Ban upheld: Avatar tribe ‘to decide’ future of Vedanta mine
www.survivalinternational.org
The Indian Supreme Court today rejected an appeal to allow Vedanta Resources to mine the Niyamgiri hills.”

US businesses call for climate law

April 10, 2013, phys.org | “Several major companies issued a joint call Wednesday for the United States to enact legislation to battle climate change, saying that the issue was critical to their businesses.”

eBay, Intel, Starbucks, Adidas, Nike, Patagonia, The North Face and Timberland
33 Major US businesses call for climate law
phys.org
Several major companies issued a joint call Wednesday for the United States to enact legislation to battle climate change, saying that the issue was critical to their businesses.

Texas delivers victory for property rights in Keystone pipeline fight

March 13, 2012, www.deadlinelive.info | Julia Trigg Crawford’s fight to prevent Keystone XL pipeline company, TransCanada, from seizing her property using eminent domain scored a big win late last Friday when an appellate court reinstated her temporary restraining order (TRO). However, the same court just vacated the TRO today. TransCanada called in some big guns from American law firm Fulbright & Jaworski to get it done.

Most Americans believe eminent domain is a power unique to government that should only be used rarely and only in a matter of public necessity, like for a road or school. So they’re incredulous to find out private companies can obtain this governmental power under certain circumstances, and one of them is for pipelines. However in Texas, that’s restricted to what’s called a ‘common carrier’ pipeline deemed a ‘public use’ as opposed to a private use.

A coalition of organizations in Texas who are backing Crawford is expressing “exasperation” that the The Property Rights Protection Act, H.R. 1433, will likely include an exemption for pipelines, including Keystone XL. The bill recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The reinstatement of Crawford’s temporary restraining order against TransCanada was not the only big news for her case last Friday. The same day the Texas Supreme Court also denied a motion for rehearing in the Texas Rice Farmers v. Denbury-Green pipeline case, subsequently reissuing an opinion that decidedly favors landowners. The Denbury-Green case unequivocally gives landowners the right to challenge a pipeline company’s common carrier status in court, which Crawford is doing. Her case is the first known litigation to rely on the Denbury-Green decision.

 

Julia Trigg Crawford — Texas Farmer v. Keystone XL Pipeline property seizures
deadlinelive.info
Julia Trigg Crawford’s fight to prevent Keystone XL pipeline company, TransCanada, from seizing her property using eminent domain scored a big win late last Friday when an appellate court reinstated her temporary restraining order (TRO). However, the same court just vacated the TRO today. TransCanad…
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Lawsuit awards 4,200 acres of Protected Habitat to Endangered Cave-dwelling Invertebrates in Texas

Feb 13, 2012, www.biologicaldiversity.org | “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized protection of 4,200 acres of critical habitat today for nine rare, cave-dwelling invertebrates in Bexar County, Texas.  ‘Protecting the habitat of these mysterious, cave-adapted animals — which don’t exist anywhere else on Earth — gives them a shot at survival,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center. “All it will take to save these unique creatures, some of which have lost the power of sight and all their color as they evolved in the dark, are modest restrictions on urban sprawl in Bexar County.'”

SAN ANTONIO— In response to a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, Citizen’s Alliance for Smart Expansion and Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized protection of 4,200 acres of critical habitat today for nine rare, cave-dwelling invertebrates…
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