OUR CRUCIAL SPRING CAMPAIGN IS NOW UNDERWAY
Please donate now to keep the mission and independent journalism of Common Dreams strong.
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 499-9185
The National
Marine Fisheries Service today proposed regulations under section 4(d) of the
Endangered Species Act to protect the southern population of green sturgeon from
"take" and other harmful activities. These take prohibitions would make it
unlawful to kill or harm southern green sturgeon and could require changes in
operations of dams and water diversions, commercial and recreational fisheries,
dredging operations, and pesticide applications to protect the green sturgeon,
an imperiled migratory fish that has survived since the
Pleistocene.
"We strongly support the proposed
take regulations, which are urgently needed to ensure rare green sturgeon are
not killed or harmed by water projects, overfishing, or pesticides," said Jeff
Miller, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
"Recent surveys have shown some of the lowest recorded numbers of spawning green
sturgeon in the Sacramento
River. With so few southern sturgeon left and the San
Francisco Bay-Delta food web they depend upon unraveling, comprehensive
protection from take is critical for the recovery of this ancient
fish."
The proposed 4(d) rule would
prohibit all unauthorized "take" of southern green sturgeon throughout their
spawning and rearing range in the Sacramento, Feather, and lower Yuba rivers,
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, and coastal rivers,
estuaries, and marine waters inhabited by sturgeon throughout California,
Oregon, and Washington. ''Take'' includes killing, injuring, harassment,
hunting, capture, or collecting, as well as harm from significant habitat
modification or degradation that impairs breeding, spawning, rearing, migrating,
feeding, or sheltering. Exemptions would allow for tribal fisheries, scientific research and monitoring
activities, emergency rescue
and salvage activities, and habitat restoration
projects.
The rule discusses specific
activities likely to take or harm green sturgeon, including commercial and
recreational fisheries, habitat-altering activities, impeded migration from dams
and water diversions, entrainment during water diversions or dredging,
application of pesticides and pollutants, and nonnative species
introductions.
In order to comply with the 4(d)
rule, state commercial and recreational fisheries would have to submit a
Fisheries Management and Evaluation Plan to theFisheries Service that prohibits
retention of green sturgeon (zero bag limit), includes measures to minimize
incidental take of green sturgeon, and ensures the fishery will not
significantly reduce the likelihood of survival or recovery of the southern
sturgeon population. In 2007, California and Washington revised fishing regulations to
prohibit retention of green sturgeon, and Oregon prohibited retention of green sturgeon
in lower Columbia
River recreational fisheries. For commercial fisheries,
the retention of green sturgeon has been prohibited in the Columbia River since
2006 and statewide in Washington since 2007.
California has
prohibited commercial fishing for sturgeon since 1917.
American Indian fisheries for green
sturgeon would be required to develop tribal resource-management plans for the
fish. The only tribal take of southern green sturgeon is as bycatch in salmon
and white sturgeon fisheries conducted by the Quinault Tribe in coastal
Washington waters. In
2006 the Quinault implemented zero retention of green sturgeon for their
Grays Harbor
fishery. The Yurok and Hoopa tribes harvest green sturgeon in the Klamath River
in California, but most
fish are believed to be from the northern population, which is not federally
protected. Overall, the take of green sturgeon in tribal fisheries has been low
compared to non-tribal fisheries.
In response to a 2001 Center listing
petition and a subsequent lawsuit, the Fisheries Service in 2006 listed the
southern green sturgeon population - fish in the San Francisco Bay and Delta
that spawn in the Sacramento River basin, but migrate along much of the west
coast from Mexico to Canada - as a threatened species under the Endangered
Species Act. In September 2008 the Fisheries Service proposed designating areas
of river, estuarine, bay, and coastal marine habitats in California, Oregon, and Washington as critical
habitat for the southern population of green sturgeon. The proposal included 325
miles of freshwater-river spawning habitat in the Sacramento, lower Feather, and lower Yuba
rivers; more than 1,000 square miles of estuarine and bay habitats in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and other bays and estuaries in California, Oregon, and Washington; and almost
12,000 square miles of coastal marine habitat from Monterey Bay, Calif., to Cape
Flattery, Wash.
The green sturgeon, Acipenser
medirostris, is one of the most
ancient fish species in the world, remaining unchanged in appearance since it
first emerged 200 million years ago. Green sturgeon are among the largest and
longest-living fish species found in freshwater, living up to 70 years, reaching
7.5 feet in length, and weighing up to 350 pounds. Sturgeon have a prehistoric appearance, with a skeleton
consisting of mostly cartilage and rows of bony plates for scales. They have
snouts like shovels and mouths like vacuum cleaners that are used to siphon
shrimp and other food from sandy depths.
Like salmon, sturgeon are
anadromous, migrating to the ocean and returning to freshwater to spawn. Only
three known spawning grounds remain, in the Sacramento and Klamath rivers in California and the Rogue
River in Oregon. Between four
and seven spawning populations have already been eliminated in California and Oregon. The estimated
abundance of green sturgeon in the Sacramento River plummeted by 95 percent between 2001 and
2006. Severe declines in both green and white
sturgeon come as scientists have documented the collapse of other fish
species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, such as
delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, threadfin shad and
striped bass, due to the combined effects of Delta water diversions and exports,
pesticides and pollution, and impacts of introduced species on the Delta's
planktonic food web. Copepods that sustain the Delta
food chain and are a food source for green sturgeon have fallen to the lowest
levels ever recorded.
View the proposed take prohibitions
at: https://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-11945.htm
For more information about the green sturgeon
visit:
www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/fish/North_American_green_sturgeon/index.html
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
(520) 623-5252"We should not have to risk arrest and imprisonment for exercising our constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and equal protection under the law," asserted one of the plaintiffs.
Progressive advocacy groups are suing Mississippi officials over a new state law requiring permission to hold public protests near state government buildings in the capital city of Jackson.
A lawsuit filed last week by JXN Undivided Coalition, Mississippi Votes, Mississippi Poor People's Campaign, Black Voters Matter, and a trio of activists challenges S.B. 2343, which is set to take effect on July 1. The legislation required prior approval from Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell or Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey for public demonstrations on the grounds of or near state government buildings including the Capitol Complex, Governor's Mansion, state Supreme Court, and other edifices.
"The JXN Undivided Coalition and its members have for years engaged in the deeply American tradition of peacefully gathering on public property to convey to elected officials what matters most to us," the group said in a statement on Monday. "What matters most to us is the right to vote and the right of political self-determination for Jackson residents."
"We have spoken, and the state has responded with a sweeping prohibition of speech next to properties in Jackson occupied by state officials absent prior authorization," JXN Undivided Coalition added. "We should not have to risk arrest and imprisonment for exercising our constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and equal protection under the law."
\u201c.@JxnUndivided files lawsuit to stop new law requiring the Public Safety Commissioner or Capitol Police Chief\u2019s permission to protest or gather in Jackson anywhere near buildings occupied by a state employee \u2014 aka damn near all of non-residential Jackson. https://t.co/ISwW2dakw1\u201d— Blake Feldman (@Blake Feldman) 1685977958
According to the suit:
This year, Mississippi made peaceful protests on public sidewalks and streets next to state government buildings in Jackson without written prior permission from one of two state officials. The new law... is an unconstitutional prior restraint that does not further a constitutionally sufficient or permissible purpose. Those who peacefully protest without state government authorization and who are charged with crimes for doing so may be prosecuted and sentenced to prison. This chills protected speech.
As the Associated Pressreported Monday:
Critics say the majority-white and Republican-controlled Legislature passed the laws to take away local autonomy in Jackson and surrounding Hinds County, which are both majority-Black and governed by Democrats. Supporters of the laws say they are trying to control violent crime.
Several protests have been held near state government buildings in downtown Jackson during the past year, including some in January, February, and March against the legislation dealing with courts and policing. The Poor People's Campaign held events on a street outside the Governor's Mansion last fall to protest what organizers said was the state’s inadequate investment in Jackson's struggling water system.
In recent years, numerous states have passed laws criminalizing or restricting protest activity and protecting motorists who kill or injure protesters under certain circumstances.
"Mr. Musk's behavior reveals an apparent indifference towards Twitter's longstanding legal obligations, which did not disappear when Mr. Musk took over the company," says a new letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three of her Democratic colleagues.
Four Democratic U.S. senators have asked Twitter CEO Elon Musk and CEO-Designate Linda Yaccarino to provide information about the social media corporation's "continued disregard for consumer safety" by June 18, the lawmakers announced Monday.
In a letter dated Friday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Ed Markey (Mass.), and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) expressed their concerns that since Musk purchased and assumed control of Twitter in October 2022, the company may have "violated its consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and put consumer privacy and data security at risk."
The letter follows last week's back-to-back resignations of Twitter's former head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, and its former head of brand safety and advertising quality, A.J. Brown.
"Regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law, and neither is the company he purchased."
"These departures, following a string of high-profile resignations from Twitter's lead privacy, information security, and compliance officers, raise concerns about Twitter's ability to comply with its legal obligations," the lawmakers wrote. "Twitter had a poor track record of protecting consumer privacy even before Mr. Musk's takeover."
As FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar explained earlier this year, Twitter in 2011 "agreed to a 20-year consent order over its data security practices and how it uses your private information."
In May 2022, several months before Musk's acquisition of the company was finalized, "the FTC charged Twitter with violating the 2011 order for misusing personal information," Farrar noted. Twitter then "paid a $150 million penalty and entered a new consent order," which "added further provisions to protect consumers' sensitive data."
But as the four Senate Democrats pointed out in their new letter, Musk has "made numerous hasty personnel and product decisions" since he took over Twitter last October, heightening concerns about the company's adherence to the updated FTC agreement.
The resignations and terminations began well before the exits of Irwin and Brown last week, as the quartet observed:
In November 2022, Mr. Musk fired multiple top executives; top security executives resigned; and Mr. Musk fired employees who had criticized him, let go of contractors, and laid off half of the workforce. On November 9, the day before the deadline to submit a report to the FTC, the chief privacy officer, chief information security officer, and chief compliance officer all resigned. Internal messages obtained by The New York Times show that an employee suggested internal privacy reviews of Twitter's products were not occurring as they should under the order. Reports also indicated that the launch of the updated Twitter Blue subscription service "disregarded the company's normal privacy and security review." In April of this year, Mr. Musk also confirmed that over 80% of the workforce had left Twitter since he became CEO.
"These personnel changes, firsthand accounts from employees, and hasty launch of new products raise questions about whether Twitter is able to comply with its obligations under the FTC consent decree," the lawmakers wrote. "In apparent dismissal of concerns regarding reducing his workforce, Mr. Musk's team has said he is 'used to going to court and paying penalties, and was not worried about the risks.'"
"Mr. Musk's behavior reveals an apparent indifference towards Twitter's longstanding legal obligations, which did not disappear when Mr. Musk took over the company," they continued. "One employee highlighted his problematic behavior, stating, 'Elon has shown that his only priority with Twitter users is how to monetize them,' and his personal lawyer Alex Spiro reportedly said, 'Elon puts rockets into space—he's not afraid of the FTC.'"
As a matter of fact, Musk's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket exploded before reaching space in April, coating a Texas community in ash and provoking fears of negative public health and environmental impacts.
The senators stressed that "regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law, and neither is the company he purchased."
"Twitter must meet the requirements it agreed to under the 2011 and 2022 FTC agreements," they added. "If reports about Mr. Musk's actions are correct, it appears that the company may not be doing so."
Citing their concerns, the lawmakers asked Musk and Yaccarino to answer a series of questions about Twitter's privacy practices no later than June 18.
"In particular, the letter asks whether Twitter conducted a privacy and security assessment of Twitter Blue, its paid subscription service, before rolling it out earlier this year," CNNreported Monday. "Under its 2022 consent agreement, Twitter is required to perform such assessments 'prior to implementing any new or modified product.'"
"The letter also asks whether Twitter has maintained a comprehensive cybersecurity program to protect user data since Musk's takeover and whether Twitter has met various reporting requirements, including obligations to report any significant data breaches to the authorities," CNN noted. According to the outlet, the inquiry "could highlight vast legal risks for Twitter and potentially for Musk himself."
The former Republican president's repeated promotion of his properties to the media and other world leaders amounted to "diplomatic malpractice," one ethics official said.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is now running for a second term in the 2024 election, made $82.5 million from his businesses in Ireland and Scotland during his presidency as he embroiled himself in what one watchdog group called "extraordinary conflicts of interest" stemming from his frequent trips to his properties in the two countries while he was in office.
As Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) reported on Monday, Trump repeatedly promoted his properties to the media and other officials as well as charging U.S. government employees to stay there.
Trump stayed at his Doonbeg golf property in Ireland and his Turnberry and Aberdeen golf resorts in Scotland numerous times, in some cases taking detours to stay there while claiming he did so out of "convenience."
\u201cNEW: Donald Trump made $82.5 million from his businesses in the UK and Ireland while serving as President, a @CREWcrew analysis of his tax returns revealed. That created conflicts of interest and reflected use of the presidency to promote his properties.\nhttps://t.co/DGVZiuyo7J\u201d— Noah Bookbinder (@Noah Bookbinder) 1685974512
The president made those trips after making the unprecedented decision not to divest from his real estate empire, the Trump Organization, CREW noted.
That decision led "to four years of egregious conflicts of interest between his business and the government," said CREW in its new report, with some of the worst arising "around his Doonbeg golf course in Ireland, where he made almost $25 million, and his Turnberry and Aberdeen golf properties in Scotland, which helped him make more than $58 million."
While in Europe for a NATO summit and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Trump went out of his way to spent two nights at Turnberry, later charging his own Secret Service officers $1,300.
A Freedom of Information Act request showed that during former Vice President Mike Pence's 2019 stay at Doonbeg—which was encouraged by Trump, according to Pence's chief of staff—the resort charged the Secret Service more than $15,000.
The then-president and members of his administration mentioned Turnberry, Doonbeg, and Aberdeen at least 50 times during Trump's four years in office, with Trump referring to Turnberry as "magical" at the NATO summit in 2018 and talking to local officials in Ireland about Doonbeg's impact on the economy in 2019.
He reportedly "boasted" about Turnberry frequently in conversations with former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, and pushed the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, to lobby for the British Open golf tournament to be held at the resort.
At the time of the latter incident in 2020, Norman Eisen, former special counsel for ethics for President Barack Obama, called Trump's actions "diplomatic malpractice."