August, 12 2022, 02:24pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Noah Rott, Sierra Club, noah.rott@sierraclub.org, 406-214-1990
Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, pwheeler@earthjustice.org, 202-792-6211
William Walks Along, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, william.walksalong@
Judge Reinstates Obama-Era Coal Leasing Moratorium on Federal Lands
A federal judge in Montana District Court ruled today to reinstate a moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands, halting all coal leasing on federal lands until the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) completes a more sufficient environmental analysis.
The original moratorium set by the Obama administration in 2016 was overturned by Trump's Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, in 2017. The Biden administration revoked the Zinke order last year, but did not reinstate the moratorium.
WASHINGTON
A federal judge in Montana District Court ruled today to reinstate a moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands, halting all coal leasing on federal lands until the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) completes a more sufficient environmental analysis.
The original moratorium set by the Obama administration in 2016 was overturned by Trump's Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, in 2017. The Biden administration revoked the Zinke order last year, but did not reinstate the moratorium.
"The Tribe has fought and sacrificed to protect our homelands for generations, and our lands and waters mean everything to us," said President Serena Wetherelt of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. "We are thrilled that the court is requiring what we have always asked for: serious consideration of the impacts of the federal coal leasing program on the Tribe and our way of life. We hope that President Biden and Secretary Haaland fulfill their trust obligation to take a hard look at the overall energy program on federal lands and really consider how to make it best serve the Tribe, taxpayers, and the climate."
"This is a significant victory for our climate and the communities across the country who are impacted by our continued reliance on this dirty and dangerous fuel, but we cannot stop here," said Jenny Harbine, managing attorney for Earthjustice's Northern Rockies office. "While this ruling reinstates the moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands, the Biden administration must go further by urgently phasing out the existing coal leases that are destroying our planet. There is no room to continue producing coal in a climate emergency."
In 2019, Tribal and conservation groups won a decision in court requiring an environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before lifting the coal moratorium. The BLM's truncated environmental analysis was woefully inadequate, so the groups went back to court in 2020 to challenge it.
"It's past time that this misguided action by the Trump Administration is overturned," said Anne Hedges, with the Montana Environmental Information Center. "The coal leasing program on public lands is harmful to wildlife, waterways, our fragile climate, and taxpayers' pocketbooks. There's no excuse for how long it has taken to require the Administration to follow the law and protect public resources. This administration needs to act quickly and protect the climate from its deeply flawed coal leasing program."
Last year, the Biden administration chose to maintain the Trump-era policy ending the coal leasing moratorium. In May 2021, Tribal and environmental groups challenged the Biden administration's decision to defend continued coal leasing on public lands.
"To protect our climate, we have to start keeping coal in the ground," said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians' climate and energy program director. "Today's ruling is a major step forward in that direction and ensures the Biden administration stays on track to fulfill its promise to end federal fossil fuel leasing."
"This order marks a big win for our public lands and climate future," said Taylor McKinnon at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Federal coal isn't compatible with preserving a livable climate. The Biden administration must now undertake a full environmental review to bring the federal coal program to an orderly end."
This decision follows a sharp increase in coal consumption in 2021 and a projected rise in 2022. According to a2021 study, 90 percent of coal must remain unextracted by 2050 to meet a 1.5 degC target.
Earthjustice represented the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Citizens for Clean Energy, Montana Environmental Information Center, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians, and Defenders of Wildlife in the case.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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Ahead of Hearing, South Koreans Hope Climate Case Inspires Others
"If we have a favorable precedent in South Korea, I think that will really be a trigger in spreading this trend," said one attorney in the landmark youth-led lawsuit.
May 20, 2024
Climate justice advocates on Monday expressed hope that a landmark youth-led South Korean lawsuit—which alleges the country's government is failing to protect citizens from the effects of the human-caused planetary emergency—will have a ripple effect that inspires activists throughout Asia and beyond to take similar action.
South Korea's Constitutional Court is set to hold a second and final hearing Tuesday in the case, which was filed in 2019 by 19 members of Youth4ClimateAction who accuse the South Korean government of violating their rights to life, the "pursuit of happiness," a "healthy and pleasant environment," and to "resist against human extinction."
"All countries need to take action in order to tackle this global crisis, and there are no exceptions."
The case was merged with three similar suits filed since 2020, including one brought by parents on behalf of dozens of children under the age of 5. One infant, nicknamed "Woodpecker," was not yet born at the time the complaint was lodged. The lawsuit comes amid a growing wave of similar cases around the world.
"If we have a favorable precedent in South Korea, I think that will really be a trigger in spreading this trend," Sejong Youn, an attorney in the South Korean case, toldNature Monday. "It will send a message: All countries need to take action in order to tackle this global crisis, and there are no exceptions."
Referring to the Paris climate agreement, Amnesty International Korea climate campaigner Jiyoun Yoo said Monday that "strategic litigation is a powerful tool which is being increasingly used to enforce states' binding duty to protect people's rights from the adverse impacts of the climate crisis and ensure there is no backsliding on the international commitments they made in 2015 to prevent average global temperatures from rising above 1.5°C this century."
"The climate crisis is already upon us but the effects will be felt even more intensely by future generations," Yoo added. "Cases like this are vital to safeguarding citizens' rights. Taking legal action against a state is often a long and arduous process which requires patience and perseverance and the courage of these pioneering plaintiffs is to be admired and applauded."
According to the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) most recent Emissions Gap Report, humanity must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28% before 2030 to limit warming to 2°C above preindustrial levels and 42% to halt warming at 1.5°C. UNEP said that based on current policies and practices, the world is on track for 2.9°C of warming by the end of the century.
South Korea is the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations.
Mingzhe Zhu—who studies the links between politics, science, and nature at the University of Glasgow in Scotland—told Nature that even if the South Korean case fails, it will inspire other potential litigants around the world.
"Even if you lose this time, you can lose beautifully in the sense that you provoked social awareness," Zhu said. "The very fact that this case went to the Constitutional Court—that is already a certain sense of success. I believe in people's creativity. Even if you fail this time, you can learn from this experience and just try another pass."
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'Finally a Glimmer of Hope': UK Court Rules Assange Can Appeal Extradition
"The High Court's decision is a rare piece of positive news for Julian Assange and all defenders of press freedom," one Amnesty expert said.
May 20, 2024
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may appeal an extradition order to the U.S., the U.K. High Court ruled on Monday.
The 52-year-old Assange faces 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse due to WikiLeaks' publication of classified U.S. documents nearly 15 years ago. He has spent the last five years fighting extradition in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison.
"The High Court's decision is a rare piece of positive news for Julian Assange and all defenders of press freedom," Amnesty International legal adviser Simon Crowther said in response to the decision. "The High Court has rightly concluded that—if extradited to the USA, Assange will be at risk of serious abuse, including prolonged solitary confinement, which would violate the prohibition on torture or other ill-treatment."
"If the Biden administration cares about press freedom, it must drop the Assange case immediately."
The charges against Assange stem from WikiLeaks publications that revealed U.S. and U.K. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. prosecutors argue that Assange persuaded and facilitated U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing classified documents that contained proof of these crimes, while Assange's lawyers maintain that he acted as a journalist and should be protected as one.
"Under the legal theory the government relies on in the indictment, any journalist could be convicted of violating the Espionage Act for obtaining or receiving national defense information from a source, communicating with a source to encourage them to provide national defense information, or publishing national defense information—acts journalists engage in every day," the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) warned in a statement.
In March, the U.K.'s High Court delayed Assange's extradition until the Biden administration could provide certain assurances, including that Assange would have protection under the First Amendment and that he would not face the death penalty. The court gave the administration three weeks to respond, and set a May 20 hearing date to determine if the assurances were sufficient or if Asange could appeal his extradition.
During Monday's hearing, Assange's lawyers argued that the administration's assurances were "blatantly inadequate," according toThe Associated Press.
While Assange's legal team accepted the assurance that the U.S. would not seek the death penalty as an "unambiguous executive promise," they did did not accept the U.S. response to whether or not Assange would be granted the same First Amendment rights as a U.S. citizen.
As The Guardian reported:
Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange, said problems surrounding the assurances by the U.S. were "multifold" and they did not rule out the possibility of a U.S. court ruling that the WikiLeaks founder, as a foreigner, was not entitled to First Amendment rights.
The assurance was not that Assange could "rely" on First Amendment rights but "merely that he can seek to raise" them, Fitzgerald said.
In response to these arguments, High Court Judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson determined that Assange could appeal his extradition.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said the ruling was "finally a glimmer of hope" for Assange.
The WikiLeaks founder's wife, Stella Assange, said the U.S. had put "lipstick on a pig—but the judges did not buy it," according to AP.
"As a family we are relieved but how long can this go on?" she asked. "This case is shameful and it is taking an enormous toll on Julian."
FPF deputy director of advocacy Caitlin Vogus said the group welcomed the decision and urged the court to deny the extradition request.
"But better yet, the Biden administration can and should end this case now," Vogus continued.
"If [U.S. President Joe] Biden continues to pursue the Assange prosecution, he risks creating a precedent that could be used against any reporter who exposes government secrets, even if they reveal official crimes," Vogus added. "If the Biden administration cares about press freedom, it must drop the Assange case immediately."
Amnesty's Crowther agreed: "The USA's ongoing attempt to prosecute Assange puts media freedom at risk worldwide. It ridicules the USA's obligations under international law, and their stated commitment to freedom of expression. In trying to imprison him, the U.S. is sending the unambiguous message that they have no respect for freedom of expression, and that they wish to send a warning to journalists and publishers everywhere: that they too could be targeted, for receiving and publishing classified material—even if doing so is in the public interest."
"As the fight continues in the U.K. courts, we call on the USA to finally put an end to this shameful saga, by dropping all the charges against Assange," Crowther continued. "This would bring the process in the U.K. to an immediate halt, and Julian Assange will be freed. Assange has already spent five years in prison in the U.K., much of which has been arbitrary."
Assange, whose has suffered from health problems, has been confined in one form or another since 2010. For nearly seven years before 2019, he sheltered in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
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Iranian President, Foreign Minister Among Officials Found Dead After Helicopter Crash
The presumed accident "creates a void in the Islamic Republic's leadership amid a deepening legitimacy crisis," said one expert.
May 20, 2024
Iran's state media confirmed on Monday that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were among the officials found dead after a helicopter crash in a foggy, mountainous region near the nation's northwest border with Azerbaijan.
The crash killed everyone on board, including East Azerbaijan province Gov. Malek Rahmati; Ayatollah Al-Hashemi, a representative of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; and Mehdi Mousavi, the head of Raisi's protection team, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. They "were returning from an event on the border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam project on Sunday."
The supreme leader declared five days of national mourning and praised the conservative late president, saying that "the entire tenure of Ebrahim Raisi, whether during his short presidency or before that, was spent in tireless service to the people, the country, and Islam."
Khamenei also announced that Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will take over as president until elections are held within 50 days. IRNAreported that Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, a nuclear negotiator, will serve as acting foreign minister.
National Iranian American Council president Jamal Abdi said the death of the Iranian president and foreign minister "creates a void in the Islamic Republic's leadership amid a deepening legitimacy crisis," explaining that "Raisi came to office in elections that were highly choreographed, even by the Islamic Republic's standards, and which marked a new era of consolidation of power by hardliners and the narrowing of already meager channels for popular political contestation allowed by the regime."
"He entered office with a long history of rights abuses from his time in the Iranian judiciary that oversaw mass executions of political dissidents in 1988 and Raisi's government will be forever known for its brutal crackdown against popular demonstrations during the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement," Abdi continued.
Looking to the upcoming special presidential election, Abdi said that "this will pose new challenges for the Islamic Republic, as popular participation in elections has declined precipitously in recent years. Most recently, this spring, the vast majority of Iranian voters stayed home in parliamentary elections where most moderate and reformist candidates were barred from running."
"The state will now weigh its interest in mobilizing public participation in an unprecedented election at a time of great regional turmoil against its fears of popular challenges to its rule amid domestic unease," he added. "The divides between state and society will only deepen if the Guardian Council only approves a narrow list of conservative regime insiders to run for the Iranian presidency."
The crash comes just weeks after Iran and Israel exchanged attacks during an ongoing U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip—both of which have elevated concerns about a broader war.
As The Associated Pressreported Monday:
Aircraft in Iran face a shortage of parts, often flying without safety checks against the backdrop of Western sanctions. Because of that, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sought to blame the United States for the crash in an interview Monday.
"One of the main culprits of yesterday's tragedy is the United States, which... embargoed the sale of aircraft and aviation parts to Iran and does not allow the people of Iran to enjoy good aviation facilities," Zarif said. "These will be recorded in the list of U.S. crimes against the Iranian people."
Asked about the ex-minister's remarks on Democracy Now! Monday, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that "this is obviously a line that many in the government will take in Iran and point to the sanctions."
"But I think there's also another message that comes with this, which is that they're really pointing to this being an accident and this is an effort for them to put to rest any speculation that perhaps there was some foul play, whether it was internal players or external players," he added. "At this moment, for instance, they will be adamant about denying that Israel had anything to do with this, despite the fact that under normal circumstances, they would be rather quick to blame the Israelis."
Citing unnamed government officials, the Israeli Channel 13 reported Sunday that "the message Israel is sending to the countries of the world is that Tel Aviv has nothing to do with the incident."
In a statement to Reuters, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said that "we are closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister."
The agency pointed out that the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters aboard Air Force One that U.S. President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation but "she did not elaborate."
International condolences mounted on Monday. IRNAhighlighted messages from Afghan, Chinese, Iraqi, Egyptian, Emirati, Jordanian, Lebanese, Malaysian, Palestinian, Pakistani, Philippine, Qatari, Saudi, Syrian, Tajik, Uzbek, and Yemeni officials. There were also comments from leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union as well as Azerbaijan, France, Kuwait, Poland, Turkey, and Russia.
Turkey's Anadolu Agencynoted that "the Iranian Red Crescent Society announced early Monday that they had found the location of the wreckage... after it was detected by a Turkish Akinci unmanned aerial vehicle."
This post has been updated with comment from the National Iranian American Council.
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