#environmentalprotections — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #environmentalprotections, aggregated by home.social.
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"#Ethics experts said #ClarenceThomas’ undisclosed ties to the #Koch network could call his impartiality in the case into doubt. This sort of potential conflict is why the judiciary has rules against both political activity and fundraising, they said. 'Parties litigating in the court before #JusticeThomas don’t know the extent of Thomas’ relationship with the parties on the other side,' said James Sample, a Hofstra University law professor who studies judicial ethics. 'You have to be pretty cynical to not think that’s a problem.' "
#OligarchCamp
#BohemianGrove
#SCOTUS
#ImpeachClarenceThomas
#ChevronDoctrine
#NDRC
#KochIndustries
#Oligarchy
#CorruptSCOTUS
#SCOTUSIsCompromised
#Corporatocracy
#Oiligarchy
#EnvironmentalProtections
#BigOilAndGas
#CorporatePolluters
#HeritageFoundation
#ClimateDeniers
#WaterIsLife
#AirIsLife -
#ClarenceThomas Secretly Participated in #KochBrothers Network Donor Events
by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
Sept. 22, 2023, 5 a.m. EDTExcerpt: "Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
" 'In the 15 years since, the Koch network has left a deep imprint on American society. Its advocacy is credited with helping stamp out Republican Party support for combating #ClimateChange, once an issue that drew bipartisan concern. The “full weight of the network” was thrown behind passing the 2017 #TrumpTaxCut, securing a windfall for the Kochs and their donors. And the upcoming Supreme Court term could bring the network a victory it has pursued for years: overturning a major legal precedent known as #Chevron.
"While most Americans aren’t familiar with the 1984 case Chevron v. #NRDC, it’s one of the Supreme Court’s most-cited decisions. Legal scholars sometimes mention it in the same breath as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. In essence, Chevron is about government agencies’ ability to issue regulations. After a law is enacted, it’s generally up to agencies across the government to make detailed rules putting it into effect. The Chevron decision said courts should be hesitant to second-guess the agencies’ determinations. In the years that followed, judges cited Chevron in upholding rules that protect endangered species, speed up the approval process for new cellphone towers and grant benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung.
"The Koch network has challenged Chevron in the courts and its lobbyists have pushed Congress to pass a law nullifying the decision. It has also provided millions of dollars in grants to law professors making the case to overturn it.
"The network’s position has become increasingly popular in recent years. Once broadly supported by academics and judges on the right, Chevron is now anathema to many in the conservative legal movement. And there’s no more prominent convert than Thomas.
"In 2005, Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that expanded Chevron’s protections for government agencies. Ten years later, he was openly questioning the doctrine. Then in 2020, Thomas renounced his own earlier decision, writing that he’d determined the doctrine is unconstitutional after all — a rare reversal for a justice with a reputation for being unmovable in his views.
"By last year, Koch network strategists sensed that victory could be at hand. During an internal briefing for network staff, Jorge Lima, a senior vice president at Americans for Prosperity, said the Supreme Court seemed primed to radically change its approach to the issue. The network was trying to find cases that could bring about major changes in the law, according to a video of the meeting obtained by the watchdog group Documented. “We’re doubling down on this strategy,” Lima told the crowd.
"Several months later, the Supreme Court announced it would take up a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which Koch network staff attorneys represent the plaintiffs. If Thomas and his colleagues side with them this coming term, Chevron will be overturned once and for all."
#OligarchCamp #BohemianGrove #SCOTUS #ImpeachClarenceThomas #Chevron #ChevronDoctrine #NDRC #KochIndustries #Oligarchy #CorruptSCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #Corporatocracy #Oiligarchy #EnvironmentalProtections #BigOilAndGas #CorporatePolluters #HeritageFoundation #ClimateDeniers #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife
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Historically Undeveloped #SearsIsland Now Threatened by #Maine’s #WindTurbine Project
By Seamus Othot
November 20, 2023"The State of Maine intends to develop the untouched Sears Island in #Searsport to build and ship offshore wind turbines, according to Downeast lawmakers who oppose the controversial project.
"'It is the largest undeveloped uninhabited causeway accessible island on the eastern coast of the United States,' said Rep. Lynne Williams (D-Bar Harbor) in her letter defending Rep. Reagan Paul’s (R-Winterport) proposal to stop the development of Sears Island.
"The lawmakers see the Sears Island project as a negative environmental effect of Maine’s offshore wind plans, which are supposed to lower Maine’s greenhouse gas emission and thereby forestall anthropogenic global warming.
"The development of offshore wind turbines also has the potential to impact Maine’s lobster and haddock fisheries, according to scientific studies collected and distributed to media by the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (#NEFSA).
"Rep. Paul’s proposal, which was appealed on Thursday’s meeting of Maine’s legislative council, would have granted a conservation easement for land on Sears Island that is not privately owned.
"This would have stopped the development of 100 acres of the 940 acre island.
"The appeal failed, with a vote of five-five. The four republicans on the council voted for the bill, along with Sen. Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland). The rest of the Democratic leaders opposed the bill.
"Rep. Williams argued that, in addition to its #ecological value, and its sentimental value as untouched #wilderness for the people of her district, Sears Island ought to be preserved for its #historical value.
"'The island is rich with #indigenous #Wabanaki history and American history from the Revolutionary War that deserves to be preserved and protected as well,' said Paul.
"Without Paul’s bill, there is no legislation preventing Maine’s offshore wind industry from industrializing the island.
"A similar bill, proposed by Rep. Tiffany Strout (R-Harrington), was appealed at the same council session as Paul’s, but, like Paul’s, it failed.
"Rep. Strout’s bill would have helped Maine retain its Lobster Management Area One if it is auctioned off to company’s building offshore wind turbines."
#Wahsumkik #Maine
#FirstNations #GovernorJanetMills
#Corporatocracy #OffshoreWindFarm #ProtectTheDunes #SaveSearsIsland #EndangeredSpecies #EnvironmentalProtections
#MackPoint #Searsport -
Historically Undeveloped #SearsIsland Now Threatened by #Maine’s #WindTurbine Project
By Seamus Othot
November 20, 2023"The State of Maine intends to develop the untouched Sears Island in #Searsport to build and ship offshore wind turbines, according to Downeast lawmakers who oppose the controversial project.
"'It is the largest undeveloped uninhabited causeway accessible island on the eastern coast of the United States,' said Rep. Lynne Williams (D-Bar Harbor) in her letter defending Rep. Reagan Paul’s (R-Winterport) proposal to stop the development of Sears Island.
"The lawmakers see the Sears Island project as a negative environmental effect of Maine’s offshore wind plans, which are supposed to lower Maine’s greenhouse gas emission and thereby forestall anthropogenic global warming.
"The development of offshore wind turbines also has the potential to impact Maine’s lobster and haddock fisheries, according to scientific studies collected and distributed to media by the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (#NEFSA).
"Rep. Paul’s proposal, which was appealed on Thursday’s meeting of Maine’s legislative council, would have granted a conservation easement for land on Sears Island that is not privately owned.
"This would have stopped the development of 100 acres of the 940 acre island.
"The appeal failed, with a vote of five-five. The four republicans on the council voted for the bill, along with Sen. Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland). The rest of the Democratic leaders opposed the bill.
"Rep. Williams argued that, in addition to its #ecological value, and its sentimental value as untouched #wilderness for the people of her district, Sears Island ought to be preserved for its #historical value.
"'The island is rich with #indigenous #Wabanaki history and American history from the Revolutionary War that deserves to be preserved and protected as well,' said Paul.
"Without Paul’s bill, there is no legislation preventing Maine’s offshore wind industry from industrializing the island.
"A similar bill, proposed by Rep. Tiffany Strout (R-Harrington), was appealed at the same council session as Paul’s, but, like Paul’s, it failed.
"Rep. Strout’s bill would have helped Maine retain its Lobster Management Area One if it is auctioned off to company’s building offshore wind turbines."
#Wahsumkik #Maine
#FirstNations #GovernorJanetMills
#Corporatocracy #OffshoreWindFarm #ProtectTheDunes #SaveSearsIsland #EndangeredSpecies #EnvironmentalProtections
#MackPoint #Searsport -
Critics call plan for #Searsport offshore wind site ‘dangerous precedent,’ point to coastal impacts
#WindPower advocates and #conservationists looking to protect #SearsIsland from use as a wind power hub presented their points of view to lawmakers, who must choose between the two sides.
"Bill would set a dangerous precedent for the destruction of our coastal #ecosystems"
Stephen Singer
March 18, 2024"Opponents urged lawmakers to respect the area’s coastal environment.
"Tribal Rep. #AaronDana of the #PassamaquoddyTribe said the proposal would disrupt the area’s environment and cause #pollution, affecting the ability to fish, hunt and gather 'in the traditional ways that have sustained the Passamaquoddy people' and others.
"#Industrialization of the areas 'not only (desecrates) our #SacredSites, but (it also erodes) our cultural heritage and our connection behind the land,' Dana said.
"Joshua Kercsmar, vice president of #PreserveRuralMaine, said the conservation group prefers construction of a wind port on the 'already industrialized #MackPoint part of Searsport that has no coastal dunes.
"He also said the state would set a bad precedent by changing environmental policy.
'If through a single bill the laws no longer apply to protecting Sears Island then a troubling question arises: If the state can so easily undo protections on Sears Island sand dunes, why could it not just as easily undo protections on other protected ecosystems elsewhere?' Kercsmar said."#SandDunes and coastal #beaches protect buildings and infrastructure from waves and #flooding and provide #habitat for #MigratoryShoreBirds and endangered and threatened species, #MaineAudubon said. It suggested establishing a Coastal Sand Dune Restoration and Protection Fund, modeled after Maine’s Lake Water Quality and Restoration Fund, that 'would help kickstart a novel opportunity to increase technical assistance, research and public education.'"
#Wahsumkik #Maine #FirstNations #SacredSites #JanetMills #Corporatocracy #OffshoreWindFarm #Wabanaki #ProtectTheDunes #ProtectTheForest #SaveSearsIsland #EndangeredSpecies #EnvironmentalProtections #CorporateColonialism
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Critics call plan for #Searsport offshore wind site ‘dangerous precedent,’ point to coastal impacts
#WindPower advocates and #conservationists looking to protect #SearsIsland from use as a wind power hub presented their points of view to lawmakers, who must choose between the two sides.
"Bill would set a dangerous precedent for the destruction of our coastal #ecosystems"
Stephen Singer
March 18, 2024"Opponents urged lawmakers to respect the area’s coastal environment.
"Tribal Rep. #AaronDana of the #PassamaquoddyTribe said the proposal would disrupt the area’s environment and cause #pollution, affecting the ability to fish, hunt and gather 'in the traditional ways that have sustained the Passamaquoddy people' and others.
"#Industrialization of the areas 'not only (desecrates) our #SacredSites, but (it also erodes) our cultural heritage and our connection behind the land,' Dana said.
"Joshua Kercsmar, vice president of #PreserveRuralMaine, said the conservation group prefers construction of a wind port on the 'already industrialized #MackPoint part of Searsport that has no coastal dunes.
"He also said the state would set a bad precedent by changing environmental policy.
'If through a single bill the laws no longer apply to protecting Sears Island then a troubling question arises: If the state can so easily undo protections on Sears Island sand dunes, why could it not just as easily undo protections on other protected ecosystems elsewhere?' Kercsmar said."#SandDunes and coastal #beaches protect buildings and infrastructure from waves and #flooding and provide #habitat for #MigratoryShoreBirds and endangered and threatened species, #MaineAudubon said. It suggested establishing a Coastal Sand Dune Restoration and Protection Fund, modeled after Maine’s Lake Water Quality and Restoration Fund, that 'would help kickstart a novel opportunity to increase technical assistance, research and public education.'"
#Wahsumkik #Maine #FirstNations #SacredSites #JanetMills #Corporatocracy #OffshoreWindFarm #Wabanaki #ProtectTheDunes #ProtectTheForest #SaveSearsIsland #EndangeredSpecies #EnvironmentalProtections #CorporateColonialism
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Governor’s Bill to Exempt a Sand Dune on #SearsIsland/ #Wahsumkik from #EnvironmentalProtection for #OffshoreWind Port Passes Committee – Full Vote Expected This Week
Sunlight Media Collective March 26, 2024
"Governor’s Bill to Exempt a Sand Dune on Sears Island/ Wahsumkik from Environmental Protection to allow for her choice of the Undeveloped Island as the Site for the most 'Cost-Effective' Offshore Wind Port Passes Committee.
"The #Passamaquoddy and #PenobscotNation and numerous #environmental organizations oppose the development, while large environmental groups and unions back the governor.
"A full legislative vote is expected this week.
"On Thursday, March 21st the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources voted in support of a bill that would carve out exemptions from existing environmental protections for the industrial development Sears Island/Wahsumkik.
"#LD2266 “An Act Regarding #OffshoreWindTerminals Located in #CoastalSandDune Systems” put forth by the Governor’s office five days before its public hearing last week, seeks to specifically exempt a sand dune on Sears Island, in Searsport, from current #EnvironmentalProtections to allow for the advancement of an offshore wind staging development on the island.
"Governor Mills announced last month that Sears Island is the state’s “preferred site” for the major development, instead of the already industrialized #MackPoint, also in Searsport.
"The bill’s passage could set a dangerous precedent for the quick rollback of environmental protections at the behest of industry and the state.
"The development of Sears Island (known also by the Penobscot name Wahsumkik)), the largest undeveloped island within the state and one of the largest on the eastern seaboard, has been a lightening rod over the past decades, as the state and prevailing industry have attempted to site a number of projects there and received concerted local push back that stopped development.
"On this current attempt, the Governor’s office has gathered a roster of supportive environmental groups eager to be seen making visible strides on climate change, and unions eager for employment opportunities. But opposition to Sears Island development has not dissipated, and has increased in diversity to include both political parties, as well as local and state environmental groups, fisherman and the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe.
"This movement is pushing back on what they see as a false choice on #ClimateChange action– alternative energy vs the destruction of #forests and critical habitat on the undeveloped island. They challenge the Governor’s conclusion that Sears Island should be chosen over Mack Point.
"LD 2266 would allow for the exemption of a coastal sand dune on Sears Island within the proposed wind port from current protection under the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
"Expressing public support for the bill at the hearing were: The Governor’s Office, The Maine DOT, Maine Labor Climate Council, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine State Camber of Commerce, Maine Peoples Alliance and the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Some expressed openness to locating at Mack Point, if it was considered viable.
"Against the development of Sears Island and additionally opposed to the bill that would make changes to the DEP coastal sand dunes protections, include: The Passamaquoddy Tribe, Searsport Representative Reagan Paul, the Alliance for Sears Island, #FriendsOfSearsIsland, Isleboro Island Trust, #SierraClub Maine, Preserve Rural Maine, New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association , Upstream Watch, Community Water Justice, #FriendsOfCascoBay and Casco Bay Keepers and a number of individuals speaking on own behalf. The Penobscot Nation did not give testimony at the hearing but opposes the development at Sears Island/Wassamkeag.
"Speaking Neither for nor against were: Maine Conservation Voters and #MaineAudubon, who stated they could not support the bill as written, but could potentially with an amendment .
"Testimony from the March 18th hearing can be viewed online at
https://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Committees/ENR
"A vote by the full legislature on the the rollback is expected this week.
Sunlight Media Collective will continue to follow this story.
Further coverage can be heard archived on WERU FM Community Radio on the programs Maine Currents and RadioActive. www.weru.org"
#Corporatocracy #Maine #MainePolitics #Greenwashing #JanetMills #ProtectTheForest #SaveSearsIsland
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Governor’s Bill to Exempt a Sand Dune on #SearsIsland/ #Wahsumkik from #EnvironmentalProtection for #OffshoreWind Port Passes Committee – Full Vote Expected This Week
Sunlight Media Collective March 26, 2024
"Governor’s Bill to Exempt a Sand Dune on Sears Island/ Wahsumkik from Environmental Protection to allow for her choice of the Undeveloped Island as the Site for the most 'Cost-Effective' Offshore Wind Port Passes Committee.
"The #Passamaquoddy and #PenobscotNation and numerous #environmental organizations oppose the development, while large environmental groups and unions back the governor.
"A full legislative vote is expected this week.
"On Thursday, March 21st the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources voted in support of a bill that would carve out exemptions from existing environmental protections for the industrial development Sears Island/Wahsumkik.
"#LD2266 “An Act Regarding #OffshoreWindTerminals Located in #CoastalSandDune Systems” put forth by the Governor’s office five days before its public hearing last week, seeks to specifically exempt a sand dune on Sears Island, in Searsport, from current #EnvironmentalProtections to allow for the advancement of an offshore wind staging development on the island.
"Governor Mills announced last month that Sears Island is the state’s “preferred site” for the major development, instead of the already industrialized #MackPoint, also in Searsport.
"The bill’s passage could set a dangerous precedent for the quick rollback of environmental protections at the behest of industry and the state.
"The development of Sears Island (known also by the Penobscot name Wahsumkik)), the largest undeveloped island within the state and one of the largest on the eastern seaboard, has been a lightening rod over the past decades, as the state and prevailing industry have attempted to site a number of projects there and received concerted local push back that stopped development.
"On this current attempt, the Governor’s office has gathered a roster of supportive environmental groups eager to be seen making visible strides on climate change, and unions eager for employment opportunities. But opposition to Sears Island development has not dissipated, and has increased in diversity to include both political parties, as well as local and state environmental groups, fisherman and the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe.
"This movement is pushing back on what they see as a false choice on #ClimateChange action– alternative energy vs the destruction of #forests and critical habitat on the undeveloped island. They challenge the Governor’s conclusion that Sears Island should be chosen over Mack Point.
"LD 2266 would allow for the exemption of a coastal sand dune on Sears Island within the proposed wind port from current protection under the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
"Expressing public support for the bill at the hearing were: The Governor’s Office, The Maine DOT, Maine Labor Climate Council, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine State Camber of Commerce, Maine Peoples Alliance and the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Some expressed openness to locating at Mack Point, if it was considered viable.
"Against the development of Sears Island and additionally opposed to the bill that would make changes to the DEP coastal sand dunes protections, include: The Passamaquoddy Tribe, Searsport Representative Reagan Paul, the Alliance for Sears Island, #FriendsOfSearsIsland, Isleboro Island Trust, #SierraClub Maine, Preserve Rural Maine, New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association , Upstream Watch, Community Water Justice, #FriendsOfCascoBay and Casco Bay Keepers and a number of individuals speaking on own behalf. The Penobscot Nation did not give testimony at the hearing but opposes the development at Sears Island/Wassamkeag.
"Speaking Neither for nor against were: Maine Conservation Voters and #MaineAudubon, who stated they could not support the bill as written, but could potentially with an amendment .
"Testimony from the March 18th hearing can be viewed online at
https://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Committees/ENR
"A vote by the full legislature on the the rollback is expected this week.
Sunlight Media Collective will continue to follow this story.
Further coverage can be heard archived on WERU FM Community Radio on the programs Maine Currents and RadioActive. www.weru.org"
#Corporatocracy #Maine #MainePolitics #Greenwashing #JanetMills #ProtectTheForest #SaveSearsIsland