Native America, Environmental Groups File Lawsuit to Overturn Trump’s Keystone XL Permit

First Suit Filed for an Injunction Against Trump’s Keystone XL Pipeline Permit by Indigenous Environmental Network, North Coast Rivers Alliance
WASHINGTON – The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and North Coast Rivers Alliance (NCRA) have filed suit in Federal District Court in Great Falls, Montana, challenging the Presidential Permit issued by President Trump allowing construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
IEN’s and NCRA’s Complaint challenging the State Department’s approval of a Presidential Permit for the KXL Pipeline is available here: http://www.ienearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Complaint_for_Declaratory_and_Injunctive_Relief.pdf

Stephan Volker, attorney for IEN and NCRA, filed the suit on Monday, March 27th. The suit alleges that the State Department’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (“FSEIS”) fails to (1) provide a detailed and independent Project purpose and need, (2) analyze all reasonable alternatives to the Project, (3) study the Project’s transboundary effects, (4) disclose and fully analyze many of the Project’s adverse environmental impacts, (5) formulate adequate mitigation measures, and (6) respond adequately to comments. In addition, the FSEIS was irredeemably tainted because it was prepared by Environmental Resource Management (“ERM”), a company with a substantial conflict of interest. The suit also alleges that Trump’s permit violates the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
“President Trump is breaking established environmental laws and treaties in his efforts to force through the Keystone XL Pipeline, that would bring carbon-intensive, toxic, and corrosive crude oil from the Canadian tar sands, but we are filing suit to fight back,” said Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Indigenous peoples’ lands and waters are not here to be America’s environmental sacrifice zone. For too long, the US Government has pushed around Indigenous peoples and undervalued our inherent rights, sovereignty, culture, and our responsibilities as guardians of Mother Earth and all life while fueling catastrophic extreme weather and climate change with an addiction to fossil fuels. The time has come to keep fossil fuels in the ground and shut down risky extreme energy projects like the tar sands that are poisoning our families, wildlife, water sources and destroying our climate.”
“Oil, water and fish do not mix. KXL poses an unacceptable risk to the Missouri River and its fisheries, including the nearly extinct Arctic grayling,” said Frank Egger, President of the North Coast Rivers Alliance (NCRA). “No oil pipeline is safe. One major oil spill, and the Missouri River and adjacent aquifers would be polluted for generations.”
“Because President Trump has turned his back on the Native American community and protection of our clean water, endangered fisheries, and indeed, survival of the Planet itself, we have asked the Federal Courts to order him to comply with our nation’s environmental laws,” said Volker. “We are confident that the courts will apply and enforce the law fairly and faithfully, and protect our irreplaceable natural heritage from the risky and unneeded KXL Pipeline. Alternatives including renewable energy and conservation must be given full and fair consideration to protect future generations from the ravages of global warming.”
Additional documents pertaining to the litigation can be obtained from the Volker law offices.
Copyright © 2017 · All Rights Reserved · Global Justice Ecology Project

With Carving Factories and Shops Closing in Preparation for the end of Ivory Sales,the Price of Tusk in China are Plummeting

Ivory lust wanes in China, elephants rejoice

A mere 35 years ago some 1.2 million majestic elephants in Africa roamed the wide-ranging continent. With the inexplicable taste for ivory responsible for their demise, now fewer than 500,000 remain. Tanzania’s elephant population fell by 60 percent in five years; at this point Central African forest elephants could be extinct within 10.
While poaching has declined a bit as of late, some 20,000 African elephants are still slaughtered for their tusks each year, much in part to meet ivory demand from Asia, particularly China, notes Simon Denyer in The Washington Post.

“Reducing demand from China, the world’s biggest ivory market, is probably the single most important factor that could help end the widespread poaching of elephants in Africa,” writes Denver. And it looks like demand is not just being reduced, but plummeting.

The country is closing 67 ivory carving factories and retail shops this week, accounting for 30 percent of all, in preparation to stop all domestic ivory sales by the end of 2017.

And now a report has been released from the conservation group Save The Elephants, noting that the average wholesale price of tusks in China has fallen from $2,100 per kilogram in early 2014 to $730 this February. “The news is likely to foster hopes for an eventual end to the elephant poaching crisis in Africa,” writes Denver.

It’s easy to question the efficacy of government action given the strength of the black market, especially when it comes to illegal wildlife trade, but remarkably, the new direction seems to be taking hold here.

“These closures prove that China means business in closing down the ivory trade and helping the African elephant,” says Peter Knights, chief executive of WildAid, a non-profit that has been advocating against the ivory trade. Noting that the drop in price indicates that ivory has become “a very bad investment,” he expects further declines throughout the year.

Interestingly, the legal ivory trade in China – which relied on stockpiled goods collected before the global ban – has inadvertently worked to harbor a booming illegal trade that has fueled poaching. But with the government decision to end the trade, demand all around is dropping. The economic slowdown, an official anti-corruption campaign, and growing public awareness have all contributed to the wane as well, explains Knights.

Even before the ban has officially begun, confiscation of illegal ivory flooding into the country has dropped by 80 percent in 2016, and poaching has declined in Kenya, Knights says. Now if Hong Kong, Britain and Japan would only climb aboard the ivory ban bandwagon, the future of the planet’s beautiful regal elephants could become even more secure. But for now, China is a start – and big one at that.

Pennsylvania Residents: Support Increased Penalties for Animal Abusers!

Please urge legislators to vote yes on S.B. 298! The measure is currently under consideration in the state Senate, so your voice is urgently needed.

Source: Pennsylvania Residents: Support Increased Penalties for Animal Abusers!

Update, DeRanged War

Wild Horse Education

Many of our readers are asking for an update on legislative threats and other issues. The legislative threats still demonstrate redundancy. The relentlessness of the deregulation of federal land  management, and “take over,” currently wears so many masks it is like being at a masquerade. Bills range from direct transfer of public land, removal of any and all regulations that restrict exploitation, removal of authority of federal managers to act without Congressional approval, and even bills that would place voices in opposition into, what appears to be, the category of criminals.

Legislative

We will address a few singularly (the ones deserve a bit of immediate attention) and then give you an overall message for your Representatives. We added, in bold, who you would call to express your opinion on each. We added our opinion for your consideration. You can click here for a fast guide to find your Representatives in…

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Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon

What Did You Say?

Saving The Middle Class

URL of the original posting site: http://comicallyincorrect.com/2017/03/30/middle-class/

Trump’s agenda includes reviving the middle class from the damage of the last 8 years, but not if Schumer can stop him.

Saving the Middle Class / Political Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2017.

To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here.

A.F.Branco Coffee Table Book <—- Order Here!

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Inconvenient finding: Melting sea ice may lead to more life in the sea

Watts Up With That?

From the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK and the “I can hear sea ice fanatic heads exploding already” department comes this bit of good news.

Melting sea ice may lead to more life in the sea

When spring arrives in the Arctic, both snow and sea ice melt, forming melt ponds on the surface of the sea ice. Every year, as global warming increases, there are more and larger melt ponds.

Melt ponds cover vast areas in the Arctic. CREDIT Heidi Louise Sørensen/SDU

Melt ponds provide more light and heat for the ice and the underlying water, but now it turns out that they may also have a more direct and potentially important influence on life in the Arctic waters.

Mats of algae and bacteria can evolve in the melt ponds, which can provide food for marine creatures. This is the conclusion of researchers in the periodical, Polar Biology.

Own little…

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Looking back at Standing…Rock How likely are oil spills to occur and what happens if they do!

The Standing Rock protests, which lasted for nearly a year, have come to an end. For months, members of the Sioux Tribe, along with protestors from around the country, held firm in a small encampment off the banks of the Missouri River, where they had gathered to protest the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). At its peak, 10,000 people had gathered at the site in a show of solidarity, backed by 200 Native American tribes. Just north of the Sioux reservation lay burial grounds sacred to the tribe, which occupies land they claim was illegally sequestered in an 1886 treaty.
Driven by concerns that the pipeline might burst and contaminate local waters downstream, adjacent to the Standing Rock reservation, as well as pollute sacred sites to the North, the Sioux decried the pipeline’s construction, which had been undertaken without their consultation, technically illegal under U.S. law. Their numbers swelled throughout the summer, but as winter approached, conditions became dire. Despite a halt to the construction given by the Obama administration in September of 2016, the situation remained tense. Private security pepper-sprayed and allowed dogs to attack protestors, and several waves of arrests were made by local authorities. Enforcements were sent in to bolster the ranks of police on site, equipped with riot gear, military grade vehicles, pepper spray, beanbag bullets, and stinger balls.

Then, on the night of November 20, as protestors attempted to remove two trucks forming a barricade on a bridge, police responded by deploying tear gas, a hail of rubber pellets, and unleashing a water cannon on protestors in temperatures that dropped to well below freezing. Infuriated by the violence, 2,000 U.S. veterans pledged to travel to Standing Rock in order to offer their support and to act as human shields to ensure the safety of Sioux Tribe members and other protestors. Then, two weeks after the night of violence, the Army Corp of Engineers officially denied the final easement to Dakota Access, LLC, which, if given, would have allowed for the final completion of the pipeline. This was the major victory that protestors had been fighting for. Their work done, people left the camp in droves until only a few remained. Within days of President Trump’s election, however, executive orders were given to revive both the DAPL and the previously stalled Keystone Pipeline, effectively overturning everything that had been accomplished.

Their numbers dwindled, the Sioux Council willingly passed a resolution to close down the protest camps, not only due to eminent flooding now that the winter snows were beginning to melt, but also due to the burden the large influx of people had on nearby reservation towns. But the final order of eviction came from the Army Corp of Engineers, who gave the remaining protestors until February 22 of 2017 to leave; ten people were later arrested for failure to do so, marking the end and ultimate defeat of the protests that had taken place there.

With the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone Pipeline now eminent, what do we potentially have to lose?

How Common Are Oil Spills?
The day after Trump signed executive orders to revive the Keystone Pipeline and expedite the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the very thing protestors had feared occurred in a small town in rural Iowa, where a pipeline carrying diesel fuel burst and began leaking onto farmland.

Though the pipe was only 12 inches in diameter, the contents of these pipes are under pressure, meaning that massive amounts of oil can spill out into the environment in a very short amount of time. This particular spill leaked upwards of 138,000 gallons of oil into the surrounding area. Nor was this an isolated event; the company that owns the pipeline, Magellan, has had several similar incidents in the last seven years alone.

In October of 2016, a Magellan pipeline transporting ammonia burst, killing one person and causing 23 households to be evacuated. In 2010, Magellan was required to pay $46,200 in reparations for a 5,000 gallon diesel spill that had leaked into a nearby stream, violating the Clean Water Act (a recent provision to the Clean Water Act is currently being attacked by the Trump administration). They were fined another $418,000 the same year for another oil spill in Oklahoma.

And that’s just one company. As of 2015, there are over 73,000 miles of crude oil pipeline in the United States. Since 2000, over 970,000 gallons of oil have leaked due to spills, 370,000 of which was unrecoverable by cleanup crews. Since 2010 alone, there has been a total of 4,269 pipeline incidents reported, 64 of which resulted in at least one fatality.

What Happens to the Oil That Remains in the Environment?
Crude oil spills are toxic to several types of living organisms, and while oils spills in marine and aquatic ecosystems cause the most damage, they can have severe deleterious effects on land as well. Contact with oil can negatively impact the degree to which mammals can insulate themselves, leading to hypothermia and death. Even a slight amount of oil on a bird’s feathers is enough to cause death as well. Several types of adverse effects can by caused by inhalation of fumes by animals, such as damage to the liver and lungs as well as the central nervous system. If an oil spill makes its way into a nearby body of water, such as a lake or river, it can cause massive die offs and pollute the drinking water of nearby residents.

Oil spills also pose a threat to endangered species, such as the whooping crane, whose wintering habitat was compromised in 2014 due to an oil spill in Galveston Bay. The Center for Biological Diversity estimates that 12 endangered species will be threatened by the Keystone Pipeline alone, including the American burying beetle, interior least terns, northern swift foxes, and pallid sturgeons.

What’s Next?
With the Dakota Access Pipeline slated to be up and ready for operation by April 1, it’s likely that the NODAPL protests have come to an end. But what the Sioux Tribe and other protestors accomplished was no small feat; by standing up for the environment and the rights of Native people, a disparate group of protestors made their voice heard and got the federal government to halt the completion of the pipeline along its scheduled path.

Even though that decision has been overturned, it brought national awareness to the issue and a momentum that can be used to fight against future projects. As the new head of the EPA begins to dismantle existing regulations put in place to protect the environment, the most helpful thing everyone can do is raise their voice. Contact your representatives to voice your concerns and vote in state, local, and federal elections.

Lead image source:Mike Shooter/Shutterstock

Protect Streams, Rivers and Our National Parks with Reasonable Funding for the Chesapeake Bay Program! – National Parks Conservation Association

https://secure.npca.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=00000000.app337b?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1819&autologin=true&AddInterest=1084&NONCE_TOKEN=35D8B385F78AC0CF28066E24EACCF52A#sm.00011uz5n918hfcuqye7f3zgq5cel

Prtition: Help stop plans for ‘new Tiger Temple’ | World Animal Protection International

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/help-stop-plans-for-new-tiger-temple?utm_source=existing_supporters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=int_wine&utm_content=help_stop_plans_for_new_tiger_temple_30_march_2017_1200

Toshiba’s Westinghouse Nuclear Declared Bankruptcy; US Taxpayers and Ratepayers Left on the Hook for Billions?

Mining Awareness +

Even with gross subsidies, the nuclear industry is not viable. “Westinghouse Electric Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, saying it needed to restructure because of “certain financial and construction challenges” from its nuclear power plant projects.” http://www.voanews.com/a/westinghouse-chapter-11-bankurptcy/3786377.html

With Toshiba’s Westinghouse subsidiary filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the US taxpayer could end up losing billions due to the Federal loan guarantees facilitated by a Republican Congress in 2005, and handed over by Obama, and the head of the US Dept of Energy, Ernst Moniz. Obama was apparently owned by the nuclear industry, especially Exelon, and the wife of Moniz has Japanese roots. Ratepayers have been, and will be, scammed, as well. The chance of losing the taxpayer money was known to be in the range of 40 to 50% based on history, but it’s not their money so they didn’t care.

The Federal loan guarantee was given…

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Why do dog owners really walk their dogs? New study reveals the secrets

Source: Why do dog owners really walk their dogs? New study reveals the secrets

Someone kicked a puppy so hard he lost his leg.

Someone kicked a puppy so hard he lost his leg.

DoggoPupper

An 8-month-old puppy has lost his leg in a suspected case of extreme animal cruelty in Moon Township, PA. The puppy, now named Tres, suffered broken ribs and leg broken so badly it had to be amputated after a man named Marcus Smiley kicked him.

What could a puppy do for someone to do something so horrible? You won’t believe it:

“The boyfriend was rather angry because the dog had torn the house up a little, like dogs do sometimes,” McCarthy said. “Then he gave it an extremely powerful kick.”

“He was whimpering, limping. His leg was dangling. He couldn’t walk very well,” said Jess Horvatin, who rescues a lot of abused animals. Read more here. 

Thankfully, Tres’ surgery was successful and he has already been adopted by a loving family. The man accused of nearly killing him, Marcus Smiley will be charged with animal cruelty, a second-degree misdemeanor, according…

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Petition · Justice for tres the tripod · Change.org

https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-tres-the-tripod?source_location=update_footer&algorithm=promoted&grid_position=2&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAK%2BMpAAAAAAAWNxscstFQn9kOWEzMmZlMQ%3D%3D

Preservative ‘Calcium Disodium EDTA’ Linked with Health Concerns – Chemical Free Life

https://chemical-free-life.org/2017/03/29/preservative-calcium-disodium-edta-linked-with-health-concerns/

Save Zoo Animals From Unhealthy Concrete Exhibits – ForceChange

https://forcechange.com/198241/save-zoo-animals-from-unhealthy-concrete-exhibits/

Allow Passersby to Save Animals From Hot Cars – ForceChange

https://forcechange.com/199036/allow-passersby-to-save-animals-from-hot-cars/

BARI, Milan. Italian police broke up a protest by environmentalists trying prevent the removal of a grove of olive trees dating back centuries standing in the way of a $40 billion pipeline to bring Asian gas to Europe – @AceNewsServices

This Organization is Using Stunning, to the Point, Graphics to Teach Us About the Dangers of Plastic | One Green Planet

Carrying our groceries in plastic bags, drinking water from plastic bottles, how often do we really stop and think about where those convenient things came from and – more importantly – where they go once we are done using them? Unfortunately, most of the plastics we use end up in the oceans where it is driving around 700 marine species toward extinction. Seeing as we produce around 300 million tons of this material every year, if we hope to help these animals, we need to cut plastic – and STAT.

Luckily, public awareness about the problem of plastic is now greater than ever and social media, especially, is doing wonders for our collective environmental consciousness. Or, to be specific, it is the people behind such social media accounts that make all the difference – like the creators of Plastic Menace.

Plastic Menace is an organization whose mission it to get people to learn the truth about plastic. In order to help relay their message to the masses, Plastic Menace has an Instagram account full of stunning graphics illustrating important, and often unknown, facts about the production, use, and waste management of plastic.
The graphics draw attention to the many dangers of using PET bottles – something that is often completely overshadowed by convenience. Polyethylene Terephthalate, abbreviated as PET, is the most common material utilized for containers and bottles.

PET plastic contains harmful chemicals that tend to migrate from the plastic itself into the container’s contents, like our juices and sodas. That makes plastic bottles not only harmful for the environment but also very directly dangerous to our health.
Using plastic is a matter of convenience – but is it worth it? Once you know about the dangers associated with plastic, you will probably be more likely to choose better right? The problem is this information is rarely given due attention.

Plastic never really disappears – after hundreds of years it gets broken down into smaller parts, but it does not biodegrade. That means that once we throw plastic away, it is going to stay there, polluting our planet, virtually forever.

Plastic Menace also highlights how dangerous this material is to marine life. Around 8.8 million tons of plastic gets thrown into the oceans every year. Consequently, around 700 marine species are in danger of becoming extinct because of the various risks of plastic waste, like entanglement and ingestion.

Plastic waste is one of the most serious issues we have to face today, but thanks to groups like Plastic Menace, the facts and solutions are becoming more well-known to the public. Since spreading awareness is a key to mobilizing change, we hope that those fascinating graphics will reach as many people as possible! To keep up with Plastic Menace on Instagram, click here.
If you’re ready to start removing plastic from your daily routine, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign for tips on how to do it!
Let’s #CrushPlastic! Click the graphic below for more information.

FDA Warning Dog Owners & Vets: Watch for Hyperthyroidism from Contaminated Food – FIREPAW, Inc.

https://firepaw.org/2017/03/28/fda-warning-dog-owners-vets-watch-for-hyperthyroidism-from-contaminated-food/

URGENT Petition: Dolphins At Risk of Death in Drift Gillnets – The Animal Rescue Site

http://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ars/petition/Oceana-DolphinsAtRisk/?utm_source=ars-ta-animals&utm_medium=email&utm_term=03282017&utm_content=takeaction-f&utm_campaign=oceana-dolphinsatrisk&origin=ETA_032817_Ocean-DolphinsAtRisk_f&oidp=0x4a568a63ec7cab2cc0a82937

Petition update · Lonely elephant Anna Louise still needs your help please contact us if you know her location! Change.org

https://www.change.org/p/tom-vilsack-demand-sanctuary-for-anna-louise-the-dancing-elephant-now/u/19849112?utm_medium=email&utm_source=50429&utm_campaign=petition_update&sfmc_tk=ucdJC2y63RYGxDoVsWgijveveh9QN%2bzfr1VJEMmccYe15RslzFCrsIz31JF62xty

Petition · Demand that the USDA Restore Its Puppy Mill Inspection Database · Change.org

https://www.change.org/p/demand-that-the-usda-restore-its-puppy-mill-inspection-database?source_location=update_footer&algorithm=recommended_share&grid_position=7

Petition: A Cyanide Bomb Killed their Family Dog and Threatened their Son: USDA Stop Using Them Now!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/938/001/187/

Petition: Support a Ban on the Sale of Puppy Mill Dogs at Pet Stores

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/107/833/146/

Petition: Stop Keystone XL Once and For All

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/823/975/075/stop-keystone-xl-once-and-for-all/

Petition · Don’t make bears and mountain lions pay for human overdevelopment · Change.org

https://www.change.org/p/don-t-make-bears-and-mountain-lions-pay-for-human-overdevelopment?source_location=update_footer&algorithm=promoted&grid_position=1&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uACe4lAAAAAAAWNqdbfmkDDIzNmYxZmE0OQ%3D%3D

Petition update · Important statement about Bob Harvey and his little dog. Please read! · Change.org

https://www.change.org/p/let-bob-keep-his-dog-bob-87-lives-in-a-care-home-with-his-close-companion-darkie-and-help-us-raise-enough-funds-to-keep-them-together/u/19846763?utm_medium=email&utm_source=50339&utm_campaign=petition_update&sfmc_tk=ucdJC2y63RYGxDoVsWgijvrKsGcfnsQk77FpDpD3KCZh3lXlnqdrIdgurOlbPy1N

Recent incident in Foxe Basin shows the danger of hungry polar bears in winter

polarbearscience

A late-night encounter with a thin and hungry polar bear in the northern Quebec community ofIvujivik in early March was a nightmare-inspiring event.

Reported this morning by NunatsiaqOnline (Nunavik community receives some unwelcome guests, 28 March 2017), the thwarted polar bear attack at the edge of Hudson Bay was the fourth defense kill this year (and the second this month) after a large number of bear sightings by residents this winter.

In contrast to reports of other encounters this winter that involved unusually fat bears for this time of year, this bear was thin and obviously dangerous.

Here is what happened to Ivujivik resident Manu Qaunnaaluk and her six year old daughter Deseray as they walked home about 11 pm after a community event:

“When we were almost home, we heard some dogs start barking out of nowhere,” she said. “It sounded really serious.”

The pair was…

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Sharing the light

How many African Green Monkeys are infected, euthanized and then organ harvested each year to make FDA-approved vaccines?

TheBreakAway

[Editor’s Note]

For those that think this is a joke, this very document at the CDC’s very own website shows this, and many other toxins within vaccines.  This is why its imperative people do their research, because if people really knew what vaccines had, they’d think they woke up in another reality.

Source: NaturalNews.com
Ethan Huff
March 26, 2017

Now that it’s been proven that vaccine manufacturers harvest kidney cells from African Green Monkeys to produce vaccines that are injected into children, many are now wondering just how many of these monkey are captured, euthanized, and processed into vaccine ingredients each year to make these FDA-approved poison jabs?

As you may recall, Natural News was falsely accused of spreading “fake news” after breaking the story on African Green Monkey kidney cells, and other horrific ingredients, being used in the manufacture of vaccines. For merely publishing the ingredients listed on…

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