November, 17 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Conservationists Intervene in Ludicrous Effort to Dam the Little Colorado River Half a Mile from the Grand Canyon
Arizona company thinks flooding one of America’s most stunning landscapes is a good idea
WASHINGTON
Today a coalition of conservation organizations sought intervention and opposed preliminary permits for a series of new dams and reservoirs on the Little Colorado River just a few thousand feet from the Grand Canyon. Earthjustice is representing Save the Colorado, the Grand Canyon Trust, the Sierra Club, Living Rivers, Waterkeeper Alliance, and WildEarth Guardians in the proceeding before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
"Flooding one of the most stunning landscapes in America for a speculative profit makes no sense, whichever way you look at it," said Michael Hiatt, staff attorney in Earthjustice's Rocky Mountains office. "When a company proposes a project that would harm the Grand Canyon, the conservation community and the American people do not sit idly by. If Pumped Hydro Storage moves forward with these dams, it will face a coalition of voices who have defended the Grand Canyon for decades."
In total, Pumped Hydro Storage LLC has proposed four new dams and reservoirs on the Little Colorado River. These dams and reservoirs would change the timing and flows of the Little Colorado River just before it reaches the Colorado River, which carved the iconic red rock switchbacks of the Grand Canyon over millennia. The dams would lower the temperature of the Little Colorado River, and eliminate its famed milky turquoise waters prized by rafters. The dam proposal faces significant legal hurdles, as it would destroy the primary spawning grounds for the humpback chub, an endangered fish protected by the Endangered Species Act.
"The warm waters of the Little Colorado River are vital to ensure the survival of the largest population of humpback chub remaining in the Colorado River," said Jen Pelz, the wild rivers program director at WildEarth Guardians. "These dams are not welcome in one of the last truly living rivers in the Basin."
"It is difficult to overstate what a truly bad idea this is," said Sandy Bahr, chapter director for Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter. "It is as if they looked at a map of Arizona and said 'where is the worst possible place to put these dams -- a place where they would flood cultural sites, destroy habitat for the endangered humpback chub, and transform the Little Colorado waters?' This proposal must be stopped."
The proposed dams would significantly alter the environment within Grand Canyon National Park by changing the flows, sediment, and temperature of the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon is a natural treasure that belongs to the American public, and it's an economic engine to boot. The National Park Service reports that in 2018, the Grand Canyon drew 6.2 million visitors who spent $667 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 9,423 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $938 million.
"Proposing to dam the Grand Canyon's largest tributary ignores the lessons learned from the downstream damage caused when the gates of Glen Canyon Dam closed more than a half-century ago," said Roger Clark, Grand Canyon Program director for the Grand Canyon Trust. "The humpback chub is endangered because of that dam, and this project would push the rare fish closer to extinction. The federal government has long recognized the Little Colorado River Gorge as a place of cultural significance, home to the Grand Canyon's Native peoples. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must consult all affected tribes."
Pumped Hydro Storage LLC formed in 2019. Within two months of its creation the company proposed five hydropower projects in the state of Arizona, lending a highly speculative light to its proposals. Proposals before the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee must pass a basic "fitness" test to determine whether a proposal deserves the time and resources of the agency. Conservation groups are asking regulators at FERC to deny Pumped Hydro Storage's preliminary permit to explore damming the Little Colorado River on the grounds that it fails this basic "fitness" requirement, and because of the potential legal challenges on Endangered Species Act grounds and opposition from Native American Tribes.
"This proposal to destroy the incredible Little Colorado River canyon to construct hydropower dams and reservoirs just steps from Grand Canyon National Park is a nonstarter," said Daniel E. Estrin, Waterkeeper Alliance's General Counsel and Advocacy Director. "In addition to adverse impacts to endangered species and cultural resources, dams and reservoirs cause enormous evaporative losses to river systems -- losses the Colorado River basin, the water supply for 40 million people, can ill afford as our climate heats up. Protecting our waterways and communities requires that we remove dams from the basin, not build more of them."
"Damming and drowning beautiful, sacred canyons to generate overpriced electricity is one of the most ridiculous project proposals we've fought in the last decade," said Gary Wockner of Save The Colorado, whose organization fights proposed dams across the Colorado River basin. "Where they want to build a wall of cement, they will instead see a wall of opposition."
Members of the public can write to FERC to oppose Pumped Hydro Storage's proposal to dam the Little Colorado River here until the public comment period closes on November 18, 2019.
Media can find maps of the proposed dams here (please credit Stephanie Smith, Grand Canyon Trust.)
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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Supreme Court Urged to 'Rule Quickly' After Trump Immunity Arguments
"It'd be a travesty for justices to delay matters further," said one legal expert.
Apr 25, 2024
After about three hours of oral arguments Thursday on former President Donald Trump's immunity claims, legal experts and democracy defenders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule swiftly, with just over six months until the November election.
Trump—the presumptive Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, despite his 88 felony charges in four ongoing criminal cases—is arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Justices across the ideological spectrum didn't seem inclined to support Trump's broad immunity claims—which critics have said "reflect a misreading of constitutional text and history as well as this court's precedent." However, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) shared examples of what it would mean if they did.
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After warning that a president could also order the occupation or closure of the Capitol or high court to prevent actions against him, CREW concluded that "the Supreme Court never should have taken this appeal up in the first place. They should rule quickly and shut these ludicrous claims down for good."
The organization was far from alone in demanding a quick decision from the nation's highest court.
"In the name of accountability, the court must not delay its decision," the Brennan Center for Justice said Thursday evening. "The Supreme Court's time is up. It needs to let the prosecution move forward. The court decided Bush v. Gore in three days—it should act with similar alacrity in deciding Trump v. U.S."
In Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 election, the high court issued a related stay on December 9, heard oral arguments on December 11, and issued a final decision on December 12.
On Thursday, the arguments "got away from the central question: Is a former president immune from criminal prosecution if he tried to overthrow a presidential election, using private means and the power of his office to do so?" the Brennan Center noted. "The answer is simple: No."
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In a departure from previous claims, Trump's attorney, D. John Sauer, "appeared to agree with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, that there are some allegations in the indictment that do not involve 'official acts' of the president," NBC Newsreported, noting questions from liberal Justice Elena Kagan and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee.
Barrett summarized various allegations from the indictment and in three cases—involving dishonest election claims, false allegations of fraud, and fake electors—Sauer conceded that Trump's alleged conduct sounded private, suggesting that a more narrow case against the ex-president that excluded any potential official acts could proceed.
Due to Trump attorney's concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there's now a very clear path for DOJ's case to go forward.\n\nIt'd be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further.\n\nJustice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.\u2b07\ufe0f— (@)
According to NBC:
Matthew Seligman, a lawyer and a fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School who filed a brief backing prosecutors, said Sauer's concessions highlight that Trump is "not immune for the vast majority of the conduct alleged in the indictment."
Ultimately, he said, the case will go to trial "absent some external intervention—like Trump ordering [the Justice Department] to drop the charges" after having won the election.
At the same time, Sauer's backtracking might have little consequence from an electoral perspective. Further delay in a trial, which Sauer is close to achieving, is a form of victory in itself.
Slate's Mark Joseph Stern pointed out that when Barrett similarly questioned Michael Dreeben, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer arguing the case for Smith, it seemed like they "were trying to work out some compromise wherein the trial court could distinguish between official and unofficial acts, then instruct the jury not to impose criminal liability on the former."
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Stern and other experts signaled that the decision likely comes down to Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, with the three liberals seemingly supporting the prosecution of Trump and the other four conservatives suggesting it is unconstitutional.
People for the American Way president Svante Myrick said in a statement that "today's argument brought both good and bad news. It was chilling to hear Donald Trump's lawyer say that staging a military coup could be considered part of a president's official duties."
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