18 Monday Oct 2021
Posted in Insanity, Local Reporting, Preventing Line 3
Still no answer on SOOOOO Many Questions around the Enbridge Line 3 Tar Sands Relocation and Expansion Pipeline Project. And today we’ll give a video explanation of what we’re seeing at the Aquifer Breach at the Enbridge Clearbrook Terminal that remains… Un-Resolved. So, as much as DNR has given another Resolution to Enbridge… we see no resolution of their many egregious damages along the Line 93 Corridor – as the Canadian Company has named their new pipeline.
27 Monday Sep 2021
Posted in Climate Change, Health, Insanity, Local Reporting, Preventing Line 3, Racism
Tags
Clearwater, DAPL, Enbridge, Line 3, Line 93, MN DNR, MPCA, PUC, Red Lake Nation, RISE Coalition, Standing Rock, White Earth Reservation
It’s been another whirlwind of a week in Enbridgeland.
As most find themselves accepting a future Enbridge wishes – and promotes daily on the radio still… and with large ads in the paper too? [I wouldn’t know as we don’t get a paper. Perhaps for the best to not have to see Enbridge lies…] Their favorite, in these end days, is the one about how well Enbridge works with the Tribes. [FFS. They’ve done all they can to DIVIDE Tribes!]
This weekend, we discovered a new tagline – financed by Enbridge I’m guessing, based on the large billboards and signs being for the companies who have long supported the Line 3 project …for what recompense, I know not, though perhaps some foolishly support them without compensation? These new signs are perhaps the scariest yet… so I’ll save them for the end of the blog.
Yet regardless of all their advertising, Enbridge could not be in a much bigger mess at this point in the game.
As we saw with Dakota Access Pipeline on their final river crossing, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe brought out tremendous support AGAINST a pipeline running through [not the white neighborhoods of Bismark… but] the Native lands of the Sioux People. All along the Line 3 process in Minnesota, we’ve seen the strong and vocal opposition, based in science and standing on the treaty rights of the Anishinaabeg.
Yet these citizens were stymied again and again by state agencies in apparent collusion with Enbridge as commissioners were nearly completely unwilling to meet with citizens or scientists, state representatives literally campaigned for the oil transport company to be paid millions of dollars in back taxes, and even the MN Court of Appeals seemed to find that, even though there was no demand forecast provided… deferring to the Public Utilities Commission was A-OK anyway!
Nevertheless, Enbridge is finding its project also falling apart at their last crossing… of the Clearwater River, no less. Ironic, no? As they are trying to wrap up construction, there is evidence of a frac-out once again.
We saw on July 20th the public outrage grow as Enbridge experienced mulitple frac-outs as they drilled under the Mississippi Headwaters in Clearwater County. These failures followed unreported frac-outs at the Willow River after the company had already drilled under the Mississippi’s second crossing (near Palisade – outside the allowable construction period no less, which restricted work from 4/1-6/30 each year – though a reported frac-out of 6000-9000 gallons of drilling mud occurred on… June 25, 2021) of Enbridge’s preferred route for their new pipeline, now named Line 93 as the official line markers are installed along the new corridor. It took public monitors and Senators and Representatives writing to the MPCA to FINALLY hear from the agency of the more than two dozen frac-outs that had already happened!!
To this DAY, STILL the Mississippi Headwaters continues to show evidence of frac-out drilling mud seeping up through the wetlands and rising to the water surfaces, and into Misi-ziibi. All coming downstream to a drinking water source near you?
That was just the beginning of their HDD (Horizontally Directional Drilled) water crossings and their luck has continued to be poor as we now see the frac-outs at the Clearwater River, as well as the larger problem of Enbridge’s VIOLATION of their Construction Permit which resulted in their BREACH OF AN AQUIFER in Clearbrook – WAY BACK IN JANUARY… which the DNR claims to not have known about until June 15, 2021, and for which the public was not informed until just this month. This aquifer CONTINUES to leak as Enbridge finds no way to remedy their rupture. NINE MONTHS LATER… [FFS, I could make an entire HUMAN in that time!]
Keep in mind that June 15th was just ELEVEN (11) DAYS after the DNR approved an almost 10-fold increase in dewatering allowance for Enbridge. DID NO ONE CONNECT THE FUCKING DOTS ON THIS SHIT??? FFS How thoughtless ARE the DNR agency representatives???
Separately, the DNR has also referred this matter to the Clearwater County Attorney for criminal prosecution. The DNR has determined that Enbridge Energy violated Minnesota Statute 103G.141, subdivision 1, which makes it a crime to appropriate “waters of the state without previously obtaining a permit from the commissioner.”
The criminal referral and civil enforcement orders resulted from an investigation of Line 3 construction activities near Enbridge’s Clearbrook Terminal. Should the company violate the DNR’s restoration order, it would be subject to additional misdemeanor charges under state law.”
DNR Announcement of Orders Against Enbridge
On Saturday, we discovered a large Enbridge holding tank farm in SE Bagley, just between the golf course and the nursing home facility in a small cul-de-sac neighborhood of quiet homes. On discovery, I wasn’t sure what this holding tank facility was all about, though on review of the footage at home that evening, I determined these were likely settling tanks for the large amounts of water Enbridge was removing from our landscape as they try to finish their work.
What are the contents of these tanks?
It seems two things, based on aerial and on the ground footage… and NO INPUT FROM THE DNR OR MPCA to Citizens of the dangers entailed.
First, they appear to be tanks for the frac-out contaminated waters vaccuumed from their HDD locations to be placed for settling – as their designed dewatering systems were FAR TOO INSUBSTANTIAL to accommodate the LARGE QUANTITIES OF FRAC-OUT CONTAMINATED WATER.
Enbridge dumps water in here and hope the bales filter out any sediments as the liquid – water with any contaminants from the trench – flows back into the environment. Or so I hear… never saw one in use here in Clearwater County.
Second, with the aquifer breach near Enbridge’s Clearbrook Terminal, it seems clear there could also be water coming from that location as well. AND at least one truck leaving this job site was marked not as “Non-Potable Water” but with HazMat Code 1993 – FLAMMABLE LIQUID.
We saw multiple trucks leaving an area on Fairgrounds Road directly east of the Bagley dump. Not only did we see dump trucks (one that dumped its load in the dump) and “Non-Potable Water” trucks, but also another with HazMat Code 1993 – FLAMMABLE LIQUID, following that one directly to the tank farm facility SE of Bagley.
SOOOO….How did this Breach of the Aquifer happen?
It seems Enbridge decided to willfully violate the Construction Permit for their “Line 3 Replacement” project… which we all know now is a relocation and expansion project as their easement was clearly was cut for more than a single pipeline installation.
The Administrative Penalty Order issued to Enbridge found Enbridge far exceeded plans presented to the state of Minnesota for only an 8′ deep trench in the area:
Beginning on about January 21, 2021, and continuing through the date of this APO, Enbridge has violated Minn. Stat. § 103G.223 by causing reductions in groundwater resources available to the Leon 33 calcareous fen (Steenerson and Deep Lake Fens) (calcareous fens) without an approved calcareous fen management plan. In 2020, Enbridge informed DNR, in its request for a no effect concurrence, that its construction activities were unlikely to negatively impact the nearby calcareous fens because Enbridge intended to excavate about an eight foot deep trench. Instead, when Enbridge constructed the pipeline at or near the Clearbrook Terminal, Enbridge excavated an eighteen foot deep trench and installed sheet piling to a depth of 28 feet. Because Enbridge deviated from its plans, Enbridge breached an artesian aquifer, causing uncontrolled flow of groundwater. The uncontrolled flow affects the same aquifer that upwells into the Leon 33 calcareous fen (Steenerson and Deep Lake Fens) and is located approximately 4,800 feet northwest of the calcareous fens. Enbridge failed to submit a calcareous fen management plan for DNR approval prior conducting an activity that may drain, or otherwise degrade, wholly or partially, a calcareous fen.”
DNR Administrative Penalty Order dated 9/16/2021
This situation is also noted in the Restoration and Replacement Order:
In an email to Randall Doneen dated July 7, 2021, Kristen Lenz of Merjent, Enbridge’s consultant, stated that as of March 19, 2021, the quantity of water pumped was estimated at 3.8 million gallons. Enbridge had not taken any flow or volume measurements since March 18. Attachments to the email showed that the depth of the bore pit was 18 feet deep by 45 feet long by 12 feet wide. The sheet piling was 30 feet long with 28 feet installed into the ground. This email contained maps, boring logs and other information about the area.”
DNR 9/16/21 RESTORATION AND REPLACEMENT ORDER Finding of Fact #15
That many still support Enbridge is a sign of a poor media capacity to shine the light on the egregious way Enbridge is already damaging our state, including for the last nine months, by bleeding water from our landscape – itself experiencing severe drought – as the pipeline company begged the DNR for a HUGE increase in their use of water from the state, all while not revealing their company’s BREACH of an Aquifer because they FAILED to CONFORM to their Construction Permit Requirements!!!
The media has failed – always seeming to drink the Enbridge kool-aid… perhaps because of all those big ads… that generated much-needed revenues during a pandemic? From scarcely reporting on the death and near-death of two Enbridge employees early on in the project work… to barely noting the inclusion of Enbridge pipeliners involved in sex crimes across the north… to not reporting on the police brutality by DNR Officers, State Troopers, and local law enforcement – with much exception here in Clearwater County where we’ve seen Sheriff Halverson honestly, fairly, and transparently enforcing the law. And while they are not covering those very serious and traumatic events, we watch them give the same short shrift to explaining to the public how the state agencies and local citizens have been duped by Enbridge money and propaganda. The media seem just another paid promoter for Enbridge.
Which brings me back to those scary new banners.
For those who cannot easily name their product, they choose another word in their star-spangled banner ads:
I’m hoping this time, the public sees the already atrocious concerns being raised simply by Enbridge’s CONSTRUCTION process, and that they will certainly be rising to assure Minnesota is protected from this foreign corporation destroying even MORE of Minnesota than we’ve seen to date.
We surely have seen that no one in the State Agencies are coming to our rescue.
Update 9/29/21:
Bad news: PUC apparently giving Enbridge the Green Light… even though there is SO MUCH MESS STILL REMAINING! Exposed and incomplete wiring not done at many crossings along the RA-05 portion of the route – even at the Clearbrook Terminal.
Note the VERY WIDE CORRIDOR which Enbridge seemingly hopes to be able to move all their pipelines into – as their easements for their pipelines thru Leech Lake Reservation end in 2029. Wishing more had understood the critical reasons we have worked so hard to #StopLine3.
To Worse: Inewz.TV reports Enbridge plans to flow tar sands by Friday.
Today, RISE Coalition, Red Lake Nation, and White Earth Nation all stand in opposition.
Stand with them in every way that you can.
Miigwech.
Update: 10/18/21 – And STILL the Enbridge Aquifer Breach at their Clearbrook Terminal… remains unresolved.
23 Thursday Sep 2021
Posted in Citizenship, Climate Change, Economics, Local Reporting, Politics, Preventing Line 3
Tags
When we moved to northern Minnesota back in 2016 we were pretty surprised to see so much animosity towards the Minnesota DNR. We’d moved to Minnesota for the abundant water and large trees we found in Clearwater County. We figured the hunting and fishing crowd would be real excited about what the DNR typically does – making trails into forests for ATVs, managing woodlands and wetlands (so we thought) for the citizenry, and generally assuring their Mission:
The mission of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is to work with Minnesotans to conserve and manage the state’s natural resources, to provide outdoor recreation opportunities, and to provide for commercial uses of natural resources in a way that creates a sustainable quality of life.“
MN DNR Mission Statement
We’re getting it now…
After 7 years of work in trying to protect the clean waters within our landscape, we’ve watched the DNR work more towards destruction than anything. They’ve been helped along by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency but we’re focused on the DNR for today’s Emergency Blog.
Perhaps taking a look at the DNR’s explanation of their mission statement will give some clues…
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources works to integrate and sustain the interdependent values of a healthy environment, a sustainable economy, and livable communities. DNR’s integrated resource management strategy shares stewardship responsibility with Minnesotans and partners to manage for multiple interests. DNR protects the state’s natural heritage by conserving the diversity of natural lands, waters, and fish and wildlife that provide the foundation for Minnesota’s recreational and natural resource-based economy (M.S. 84, M.S. 97A). DNR manages natural lands such as forests, wetlands, and native prairies; maintains healthy populations of fish and wildlife; and protects rare plant and animal communities throughout the state. DNR manages the state’s water resources, sustaining healthy waterways and ground water resources. DNR provides access to enrich public outdoor recreational opportunities, such as hunting, fishing, wildlife-watching, camping, skiing, hiking, biking, motorized recreation, and conservation education through a state outdoor recreation system that includes parks, trails, wildlife management areas, scientific and natural areas, water trails, and other facilities (M.S. 86A). DNR supports natural resource-based economies, managing state forest lands for multiple forest values (M.S. 89), ensuring the maximum long-term economic return from school trust lands (M.S. 127A), and providing other economic opportunities in a manner consistent with sound natural resource conservation and management principles.”
MN DNR Mission Statement (my emphasis)
So, it looks from here like MDNR is “managing” our natural resources for their “economic” value with their… “partners“. Yeah.
I once sat at lunch with Commissioner Strommen and asked her why it seemed the statutes for MDNR seemed mainly about overseeing the sales of natural resources and documenting to whom they sold them. She asked if I’d read the whole statute… but couldn’t tell me more about why they aren’t just about that. So I asked for her proudest achievement as Commissioner of the DNR. Now… granted, this was December 3, 2019… so maybe she hadn’t been in the job long enough to find a better one… still, her answer was pretty disappointing. She mentioned being super excited for a DNR public town hall that was REALLY well attended! I was nonplussed.
Today, we found another opportunity for a public gathering with the MN DNR and I’m betting she wasn’t NEARLY as excited about it. Let’s find out what happened!
The meeting was scheduled for 2 PM – ironically, at the same time many Environmental Groups opposed to Line 3 were ALSO meeting. Hmmm… No coincidence there? Divide and Conquer – that is the way of Empire.
I noted this comment pretty much summed up my opinion:
Gail Nosek, Communications Director for the MN DNR encouraged attendance with her re-tweet of the event:
So… I had to ask – afterwards:
Turns out, THIS was more the result of their “Office Hours” meeting:
What questions DID they hear? It seems the DNR was excited to tweet about that too! Though, as noted by the Minnesota Department of Snark, those didn’t include mine…
So, what was my question? I’m glad you asked!!! …though the MN DNR didn’t quite answer it.
My question is in regards understanding how the Minnesota DNR as land manager will adequately address climate change in Minnesota, especially as Commissioner Strommen mentioned the power of trees, and others spoke of water mgmt, both of which factor into my question.
In addition to other concerns in my past experience with MDNR, my recent reading of the Restoration and Replacement Order issued to Enbridge on their Line 3 project, troubled me as the DNR, following not just one or two but at LEAST SEVEN reports from the Independent Environmental Monitors, did nothing to intervene with expertise.
The February 2, 2021 report noted: “Due to excessive groundwater infiltration the site was backfilled and sheet piling was initiated. Despite backfill, groundwater has flowed to the surface.”
I’d ask WHY at that time NO ONE with MORE EXPERIENCE from the DNR came to review the situation. What did the Monitors think of this unrelenting groundwater flow? Why was this not seen as a situation that might require more expertise than theirs?
On February 20th, a Saturday, even the Environmental Resources Management group’s Technical Director “agreed that the turbidity was unusual for a well point dewatering”…
Mid-March (on the 13th, 15th, & 16th) provided several reports in close succession regarding fine clay sediments and included in the final report a notice that “Enbridge issued [itself] an unacceptable report for improper dewatering structure” yet there was STILL NO MENTION from Enbridge OF A DIVERSION FROM THEIR CONSTRUCTION PERMIT, which might have assisted in far earlier resolution than a full three months later, when on June 15th, the IEMs happened to be asked by DNR staff about the “uncontrolled flow at the Clearbrook Terminal” of which (reportedly) “DNR staff were not previously aware”.
How were the DNR staff unaware when there were at least 7 reports regarding this situation in Q1? This mid-June report also notes: “Though the condition generated an Enbridge-issued “unacceptable” report in March, Enbridge did not bring the issue to DNR’s attention at that point either.” Does Enbridge have to ASK THE DNR to READ THEIR REPORTS? Is ANYONE AT DNR Reading the reports? Or are you all just trusting Enbridge to do what is right and “let you know” when you might need to hold them accountable?
Mr. Doneen took action the next day demanding more information, and, the following day, informed Enbridge to stop construction at this location. Why not STOP CONSTRUCTION for ALL ENBRIDGE WORK finding such an egregious error that had gone WITHOUT RESOLUTION by ENBRIDGE for almost 6 months!?!?
A full month later, flow continued and, though a 7/7/21 email from Merjent, Enbridge’s consultant, noted Enbridge was not monitoring flow or volume since March 18th, AND the bore pit was found in excess of that allowed in DNR’s constructon permit, AND on July 8th it was reported that a SECOND emergence of UNCONTROLLED FLOW “likely a direct result of the initial breach of the aquifer confining layer”, NO FULL STOPPAGE OF PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION OCCURRED! HOW can the citizens of Minnesota TRUST that the DNR will do ANYTHING PROACTIVE to assist in Climate Change when this is how poorly they oversee a project which is known to bring an incredible amount of exacerbation to the climate chaos we are already experiencing?
Jami Gaither question during the DNR’s 9/23/21 Office Hour
You decide for yourselves. But they also didn’t answer these other questions, also in the chat…
I wrapped up by noting these things:
06 Monday Sep 2021
Tags
arab spring, climate change, COVID-19, drought, Farm, Line 3, Racism, Vaccine
They’re destroying the world, our living spaceship… and the source of all life.
The only thing we can hope is that they stop in time.
The powers that be have trained us to oppress each other via division. We’ve seen too much of that in recent years. The result is that the status quo continues to support the elites, those with power and money, and those who cannot see the oppression of the majority, for whatever reason.
While the vaccine program, rushed and heavily promoted as the ONLY ANSWER, divides families and communities, it seems a failure similar to the ways that Racism and Climate Change have failed… where mostly white elites continue to find no way forward to a new way of life that supports all people and allows for egalitarian access and opportunity.
We see youth, angry and frustrated with the lack of recognition of the urgency with which we need to act.
We have watched as crowds have grown, standing in opposition to Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Ag. From Minnesota to India, half a world away, we see suppression of the voices of the people most connected to the land.
We see farmers in Minnesota who are left in the dust, literally, as Enbridge dewaters their landscape, draining shallow aquifers and removing water access for the people. [Unfortunately, with Republicans urging a firing of Commissioner Malcolm, a technique they’ve used repeatedly through the pandemic to combat the Walz administration, there may be no September session meaning farmers (and nurses, who were also on the agenda to be helped) may get no relief.]
We see farmers in India standing against the policies that are preventing them from earning a wage or even growing enough food for their own families.
And we know that the Arab Spring was started by a farmer in Tunisia, Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi (Arabic: طارق الطيب محمد البوعزيزي), who set himself afire in the market as he realized he had no other options… “His self-immolation was in response to the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides.”
So what is to come? I fear the only response remaining is Revolution. People in the streets.
As we watch the eviction moratoriums expire, and we see today – HAPPY LABOR DAY! – the elimination of the unemployment supplement that has kept many hanging on during the pandemic, my guess is, the streets will have plenty of people with little to do except shout for justice.
Meanwhile… I’m with her. And RISE Coalition. And Taysha…
“When we take to the frontlines, please remember why we are here. We are not here to fight the police. We are not here to intimidate workers. We are here for that water. We are here for each other. We are here for future generations.”
Taysha Martineau, Camp Migizi
Let’s stand with and for Nibi.
‘Cause if we don’t, we’re all dead.
30 Monday Aug 2021
Posted in Citizenship, Climate Change, Community, Local Reporting, Musings
Tags
climate change, Court of Appeals, Hurricane, Ida, Line 3, Minnesota, MPCA
Just turn back now if you’re already running low on spoons… Or have not enough bandwidth to process more (possibly) mostly bad… and very little good news in today’s blog.
Or if you’re just overwhelmed, I’m gonna say, go get yourself a warm/cool beverage, put your feet up and relax with a bit of meditation… or cool jazz, hip hop, thrash metal, christian contemporary, whatever your jam… and chill.
But…
If you wanna hear some of the recent ramblings from here at the HARN… Read on.
On Line 3 and Minnesota Environmental Protections:
While the Appeals Court dissent on the PUC case seemed the grounds for the MN Supreme Court taking up a case that considers the very future of, not just Minnesota, but our entire planet [Just my opinion], nevertheless, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided not to take up the case.
Today the ruling on the MPCA case comes. Will this be another arbitrary and capricious decision? Or will justice for Mother Earth be served? Will the Water… and thus the People, be Protected?
We’ve seen a big uptick in rain here of late… which is good for Enbridge as, if we were still in drought, the farmers themselves might bring pitchforks to protest their water usage for cleaning the mud from the roads. One could argue that they shouldn’t be mucking around in the mud anyway… as it is harder on the equipment and more dangerous for the operators, not to mention, it just being a huge mess.
But a billion dollar Canadian Corp with access to 5B gallons of our Minnesota water, thanks to the state’s Department of Natural Resource… just does what it wants. They’re in a hurry installing this pipeline as they’ve been delayed for many years by Water Protectors in courts and on the land standing to prevent this project from bringing ruin. The industry is on the brink of bankruptcy so, if Enbridge is to recoup it’s many recent losses, it REALLY NEEDS THIS WIN. [Though based on a lack of investment in the tar sands, I’m wondering what the loss of all our trees and invasions to our land will really bring Minnesota in any taxes… especially as Enbridge’s recent wins in tax court (mostly as Minnesota failed to show up for the work) means they will pay less and less for their more and more unwanted infrastructure.
Not much doubt for most of us locals about Enbridge being a factor in the proceedings around the rivers running dry. This graph depicts the drops in water levels in St. Cloud… which seem to coincide with the Enbridge dewatering, approved June 4th:
As reported in St. Cloud on August 17th: “The city of St. Cloud announced Monday that it was shutting down the second unit of the hydroelectric dam after water flows dropped to just 700 cubic feet per second. The city says this is the first time it has had to completely shut down the dam since the drought year of 1988.“
We have failed over and over to convince the Minnesota Governors, DOC, PUC, DNR, PCA, and even the USACE to join us in holding water more sacred than oil. While it’s cold comfort, we’re surely being proven right now, as we watch unfolding climate devastation on never before seen levels.
On Environmental News around the Country:
We’re now watching Hurricane Ida… last year we got to Zeta. How much worse are the storms going to get? We’re in early days of the season, eh? And it ain’t looking good at all for Louisiana thus far. Not good at all. New Orleans has lost power. Yes. The. Entire. City.
What about the fires burning? Are they going to be worsening as the drought continues in many areas?
And NOW it’s getting VERY SERIOUS!!!
“Asked how he will fill his new firetruck if the state’s worsening drought continues to drain local water sources, Manning took a long pause and said: “That’s the big question, isn’t it?”
Local grower also Fire Chief in Drought, wildfires create new challenges for California cannabis growers 8/29/21
Interesting piece… though not for the faint of heart [Man, it’s so depressing, I don’t even feel like I can make a pot joke anymore. Is that one of the signs of the apocalypse???]
So… On Cars and… Cats:
If you’re into street racing, you might want to check out my Bro’s YouTube channel with his buddies: Dayton Small/Tire Mafia.
As I write up this blog, Gaazhii finds himself in the woods, escaped from his leash… again. We’ll see how he does… and I’m hopeful he comes back to the porch soon. I can hear the wolves howling nearby.
Y’all have a good week now, y’hear?
23 Monday Aug 2021
Tags
Antarctic, drought, Esther Stanford-Xosei, fire, flood, Greenland, LaVar Burton, Line 3, NTHE, Russell Brand, UK, XR
Seems people are getting less and less consideration by governments and corporations around the world. We are feeling more each day that we’re reaching a breaking point.
From a day of rain in Greenland… and possibly even worse for the Antarctic – so THAT’S NEW – to add to Fires, Floods, and Droughts all around.
RFK tells some great stories about the Hudson River… and by great… I mean horrible. My old employer, GE (though I was at Aircraft Engines), polluted and privatized the commons… not cleaning up their mess.
We see the ever-growing Sock-Puppet Agencies, the Compromising of the Press, the Local Sovereignty Elimination, and the End of Transparency. People are saying, “Enough is Enough!”
I mean, we’re supposedly working to stay below 1.5 degrees Celcius… and we’re already at 1.23?
Last week in Minnesota, we saw:
Enbridge has said the upgrade is needed for safety reasons, to reduce maintenance needs, and to “create fewer disruptions to landowners and the environment.” But opponents from the medical community disagree. According to Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, or HPHC — the advocacy group that organized Tuesday’s nationwide protests — the project poses both immediate and long-term threats to Minnesota communities and Indigenous peoples, whether from an oil spill or from the pipeline’s contribution to climate change.
Vishnu Laalitha Surapaneni, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota who helped organize the rally in St. Paul, told Grist she is particularly worried about the pipeline’s potential impact on water quality. “We’re in the Land of 10,000 Lakes,” she explained, using Minnesota’s unofficial nickname. “This is not something that is compatible with healthy water.”
Health care workers join the fight to stop the Line 3 pipeline* Code Red event
* This article may be one of the best I’ve seen on why there is an urgent need to #StopLine3.
Meanwhile, this week in the UK:
The protests will start with a rally in Trafalgar Square on Monday morning, 23 August. This is the anniversary of the Haitian slave rebellion of 1791 and the international day for the remembrance of the slave trade and its abolition. XR said its events were also intended to show solidarity with people in the global south who are worst affected by climate breakdown.
We are not powerless – you have more power than you think. We are the collective power to be the change that we need.”
Tim Crosland, of the pressure group Plan B, who was found in contempt of court for revealing early a supreme court ruling relating to Heathrow’s third runway plans, said: “We are targeting the City because these are the kind of people who are the real contributors to this crisis.”
He spoke out against recent claims by members of the Conservative party that reaching net zero emissions by 2050 – the government’s target, set out in law – would cost too much money. “It’s embarrassing to claim that it is too expensive to save young people and our country and our planet. This is extremist ideology from some parts of the Conservative party,” he said. “They believe science will have to give way to the market, but it is not going to work that way, it’s the other way round. The economy will have to adapt to the science.”
Esther Stanford-Xosei, a co-founder of XR’s International Solidarity Network The Guardian
By the time this posts, we’ll likely be hearing news from Trafalgar.
And if YOU Want To F*ck The System That’s Been F*cking You? – WATCH THIS!
Protest, Protect, and Build! A coherent movement.
Ends should be human well-being and means should be money, economy, industry.
Instead, we have a consumption-based economy that cares little for human well-being.
The means are Nature and Humans.
Remaining individualistic, we continue to suffer.
In other words:
Slavery never went away. It just got better clothes.”
Dan… as we watched the video
We cannot have social justice without environmental justice… until we behave justly to the planet upon which we live, our host system… our Mother.”
Russell Brand 10:47
Individualism is rooted in Separation. Division must be overcome. Long live difference and diversity… [as we eliminate caste?] dancing together. … We Belong to Each Other!”
Satish Kumar 13:57
Blessed be.
21 Monday Jun 2021
Posted in Citizenship, Insanity, Local Reporting, Politics, Preventing Line 3
Though Enbridge TESTIFIED in 2017 to being able to SAFELY run their current Line 3 – EVEN IF their new pipeline “replacement” project was NOT approved, the PUC used that basis – that their current Line 3 was UNSAFE – for their Line 3 approval order.
Now even Judges Jesson and Kirk appear similarly seduced. All were seemingly so bedazzled by the Enbridge narrative that they agreed it was “REASONABLE” that the MN Public Utilities Commission would agree to allow Enbridge’s new pipeline request… based on their current UNSAFE Line 3!!
It is surely an argument only a cat chasing its tail would comprehend!
One lone soul on the Minnesota Court of Appeals – celebrated Judge Peter Reyes – retained his wits and clearly demonstrated in both words and a simple chart how ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS the PUC had been in their decision.
It’s right in front of our noses and yet there has been no explanation by the PUC on how they made this LEAP to approve Line 3 while getting NONE of the data they’d gotten for their previously submitted Enbridge projects in 2008 and 2012.
How is that reasonable? How is it based on evidence?
And how does it possibly adhere to the law?
As Reyes notes, It Does Not. While the MN Department of Commerce approved previous projects, this one it did not. And rightfully so as is easily seen here:
Judge Reyes uses the term “arbitrary and capricious” multiple times throughout his dissent. This is a touchy legal term so it feels almost like he’s really rubbing in the point that this is so CLEARLY a violation of the law… or perhaps he’s expressing how amazed he is to be standing alone in his Dissent opinion? It’s clearly stated here.
In sum, Enbridge knows how to provide demand forecast data in a certificate-of need application, yet conspicuously chose not to do so here. The PUC knows how to evaluate demand forecast data and has in the past, but did not to do so here. The inescapable conclusion is that the PUC acted arbitrarily or capriciously by granting the certificate of need unsupported by substantial evidence. Because we afford an agency no deference if its findings are arbitrary and capricious or unsupported by substantial evidence, I would reverse the PUC’s order granting Enbridge a certificate of need.
Judge Reyes’ Dissent on MN Court of Appeals case challenging PUC approval of Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement project
When the picture is this easy to see, why is it Enbridge seems to be able to continue their progress?
When all roads point to corrupt collusion on many fronts within the State government, it’s hard to see any other reason. Healing Minnesota Stories also wrote on the obvious failings at the PUC… Revisiting the PUC’s tortured logic to approve Line 3 regardless of treaty rights violations.
Want to know more about this brilliant and brave Justice?
Among his recognitions, Minnesota Lawyer named Judge Reyes as one of the “Top Ten Minnesota Attorneys of the Year” in 2001, one of the “Attorneys of the Year” in 2012, 2016, and 2017, and as a recipient of the inaugural “Diversity & Inclusion Award” in 2017. In 2012 and 2013, Poder Magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America.
Judge Reyes received the Ohtli Award in 2016, the highest award given out by the Mexican government to a non-Mexican citizen. He received the “HNBA Latino Judge of the Year Award” in 2018. And in 2019, Judge Reyes received the “MHBA Courage in Leadership Award” and the ABA 2019 “Spirit of Excellence Award.”
Judge Peter M. Reyes, Jr.
Thank goodness for the brave ones. Judge Reyes, you have my heart.
You and PUC Commissioner Schuerger seem in need of more brave ones in the Minnesota government to join you. I hope they do. Perhaps whistle-blowers in State agencies were awaiting the logic of your reasoning? Will we see the Department of Commerce again pursue the case. It seems unlikely in the horrific Walz administration which he continues to fill with corporation-friendly and environmentally ignorant appointments.
Meanwhile, the PUC is now screwing over landowners as well as Tribes in Minnesota? Sounds like Enbridge used the same $10/foot figure to fuck over Canadians too! Yet the PUC doesn’t agree landowners are getting hosed…
Basically, Enbridge is giving landowners a pittance (1% of the cost of removal) if they agree to keep the old pipeline in place…but doesn’t sound like many of them understood the bargaining power they had with Enbridge.
A story with a long history here in MN… Enbridge selling lies. And getting away with it.
Makes one wonder if Enbridge is the only one making out in these deals…
I mean, what’s in it for the PUC to continue fucking us all over like this?
And still, many are calling for support along the Enbridge Corridor. Indigenous leaders continue to ask for a stop to this project which violates Treaty Rights and ignores the voices of Sovereign Nations, whose territories are affected by this unnecessary pipeline.
Dawn Goodwin’s voice was soft but forceful as she spoke into the camera: “I’m calling on you, Joe Biden, to uphold our treaties, because they are the supreme law of the land.”
‘We will not stop’: pipeline opponents ready for America’s biggest environmental fight Guardian
As drought ravages Northern Minnesota, we wait for rain, and a return to sensible judgement in our state government.
31 Monday May 2021
If you ever wondered what it’s like, to live as an abutter to the Line 3 project in Northern Minnesota, here’s my take.
It feels every day as if I awaken on Death Row awaiting an answer. However, the answer is not for my own execution nor for something quick and (hopefully) painless.
No, the waiting I have is to see if we will be given a reprieve to the continued building of a Tar Sands Pipeline at the End of the World.
There was an injection of hope in a recent piece by Jessica Intermill entitled “When the Public Interest Isn’t: Minnesota’s approval of a new Line 3“. This week, I’ll dive into her piece and a bit of other good news.
Published in Bench & Bar of Minnesota, the official publication of the Minnesota State Bar Association, the piece lays out exactly how the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission FAILED to heed the public voice – even stifled it to the greatest degree it could, despite huge public outcry on the Line 3 project’s risks.
This is only Part 1 in a 2-part series so I anxiously await the second half of her critique. From the article: “This is the first installment of a two-part article exploring structural bias and racism within the law in the context of the Line 3 oil pipeline expansion. Part 1 examines the agency approval process and the role of the public in that process. Part 2 explores the racialized impact of that facially neutral approval in the context of Minnesota’s legal history.“
Enbridge has a history of trouble with their pipelines – from the Alberta Clipper (here’s a more detailed piece) to the current long-time opposition on Line 3. [Not to mention all those pesky spills…]
Now, it seems the entire world may be pushing back as we see global decisions in opposition to the continuation of Big Oil’s consumption of our carbon budget. And that could spur their many opponents across the U.S., especially across the Northern Midwest as Enbridge faces pushback from Minnesota through Wisconsin to Michigan. Citizens are speaking up across the region… on a national platform.
The tides seem to be turning as, just this past week, we saw Exxon get slapped with reality…
Market reality has finally collided with the most important U.S. energy company. Yesterday, Exxon Mobil shareholders elected at least two of the dissident directors proposed by the activist hedge fund Engine No. 1. Investors have lost patience with the basic business assumption that oil and gas will rule forever. But investor confidence in corporate boards is eroding on other contentious public policies issues as well. Boards should take note.
Exxon’s Shareholder Revolt Is a Warning for Boards Everywhere by Heidi Welsh 5-27-21
…and Royal Dutch Shell lose their case in the Netherlands.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC must slash its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels, The Hague District Court ruled in a decision that could reverberate around the world.
“This is a turning point in history,” Roger Cox, a lawyer for the nonprofit Friends of the Earth Netherlands, said in a statement after the decision. “This case is unique because it is the first time a judge has ordered a large polluting corporation to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement. This ruling may also have major consequences for other big polluters.”
Court Orders Shell to Slash Emissions in Historic Ruling By Maxine Joselow, E&E News on May 27, 2021
Among the most far-reaching aspects of this ruling is the court’s order for how Shell must account for its emissions, …(taking) account of what are known in climate parlance as Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Shell must consider the emissions of its parent company, all its global subsidiaries, all its suppliers, and all its customers across the entire chain of its enterprise everywhere that it operates throughout the globe.
That would include, for example, the climate-harming emissions released when it … builds a pipeline… and when its consumers burn its gasoline in their cars, trucks, or airplanes. When every one of these sources is considered, the court said, Shell’s global emissions must decline by nearly 50 percent over 2019 levels in just nine years. …
The ruling will also likely increase the risk calculation that investors, policymakers, financiers, and others apply to fossil-fuel activities… The individual responsibility component, argues lawyer Roger Cox, may also increase the likelihood that individual corporate executives and board members are held liable for a company’s harmful activities, further increasing the risks associated with fossil fuels.
Others see a clear pathway to U.S. climate litigation. Calling the court’s decision “earth-shaking”, Kathy Mulvey of the Union of Concerned Scientists notes… The essence of the Dutch court’s ruling, she says, is that “if you dig it up and sell it and profit from it, you’re responsible for it.”
Dr. Geoffrey Supran, research fellow at Harvard University, agrees. In an email, he called the “individual responsibility” aspect of the ruling “a game-changer,” which “legally and rhetorically inverts Big Oil’s decades-long propaganda campaign” to switch responsibility for the climate crisis from themselves to individual consumers.
“It is precisely this sort of corporate accountability, for the climate damages caused by Big Oil’s products, that dozens of cities, counties, and states are seeking in U.S. climate litigation. So, in my view, this Shell verdict provides powerful precedent,” Supran argues.
The Shell case now joins a burgeoning international body of law conferring the basic and fundamental human right to survive the climate crisis and hold fossil-fuel companies accountable for causing it. Critical to this broad and increasingly successful movement was the decades-long struggle of Indigenous peoples to secure the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which confirms rights not only to their lands but also the natural resources found on and within it.
A Court Ruled Shell Is Liable for Its Contributions to Climate Change. What Happens Now? by Antonia Juhasz 5/27/21
So let’s hope those globally turning tides will bring us a verdict soon that stop the Line 3 project from any further devastation. I’m especially concerned as we see evidence of high Covid cases in Alberta pipeliners and we watch anxiously as the India variant makes its way around the world. That, however, is a topic for another day.
The Intermill piece rekindles hope that at least some in the Minnesota judiciary comprehend the reasons why the Enbridge project is such a gross negligence of the public. She opens with an overview of perhaps the most horrific of days in this process – the “gun to our head” day, as is how the Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioners explained their fear causing them to support granting Enbridge’s order.
Jessica then goes on to explain the history of the Public Utilities Commission:
Since its beginning, the PUC’s predecessor agencies prioritized expansion of cheap utilities—often over public opposition.
One of the earliest “public interests” that Minnesota courts identified was railroad expansion. That interest was so strong that it displaced otherwise ordinary landowner remedies like ejectment.9
The PUC traces its origin to this interest. Its ancestral predecessor was established by 1871 legislation that began with rail safety inspections, but just three years later turned to railroad-rate oversight. An 1885 law continued to focus on rate discrimination without any countervailing concern that utility expansion could undermine other public interests. But even then, contemporary critics noted that expansion of utilities like railroads prioritized the interests of capital over people. A 1907 political cartoon showed railroad baron J. J. Hill demur at the “timid creature” while the railroad industry knocked “the public” off its feet.
The PUC’s interest in utilities – Jessica Intermill 5/26/21
In turning to Line 3, Intermill notes several reasons for denying the project including, 1) the greenhouse gas concerns for the project, 2) the infringement on Indigenous population in Minnesota, and 3) even the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s own opposition to the project, which concluded:
“in light of the serious risks and effects on the natural and socioeconomic environments of the existing Line 3 and the limited benefit that the existing Line 3 provides to Minnesota refineries, it is reasonable to conclude that Minnesota would be better off if Enbridge proposed to cease operations of the existing Line 3, without any new pipeline being built.”
Minnesota Department of Commerce opinion 9/11/2017
Not only did the PUC FAIL to recognize the Department of Commerce (currently suing the PUC in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, alongside other opposition parties), they also failed to heed the Administrative Law Judge assigned to oversee and review the public input on the project.
[The ALJ] conducted 16 hearings across the state attended by about 5,500 people, building a record of public comment from 724 speakers that was over 2,600 pages long. In each city, she held separate hearings in the afternoons and evenings to accommodate the schedules of people who work both days and nights. After the three-month process, she completed a 300-plus-page report that included more than 40 pages summarizing public comments concerning the new Line 3. …
“The importance of these economic benefits to northern Minnesota are not insubstantial,” the ALJ found, but rather “would exist with respect to any infrastructure project of this magnitude.”16 Thinking past Line 3 to build a renewable-energy infrastructure with union-protected prevailing-wage jobs would satisfy the public interest in economic development and water quality. But only Line 3 was on the table.
Of 72,249 written public comments submitted, 68,244 opposed a new Line 3.17 The ALJ recommended against Enbridge’s request because it did not “minimize[] the impacts on human settlement, the natural environment, the economics within the route, the State’s natural resources, and the cumulative potential effects of future pipeline construction.” She favored a “true replacement” in the existing trench.
The public’s interest in Line 3 – Jessica Intermill 5/26/21 (my emphasis)
While ALJ O’Reilly noted there was public interest in construction, it didn’t equal an endorsement of Line 3. YES, people up here are desperate for jobs but could we get some for the 21st century instead of the 19th? It’s time to END investment in the energy of the past, especially as more investment there simply hastens our demise!
Jessica next explains how the PUC denied the public a voice, as had previously been done historically in rural Minnesota.
The PUC’s embedded bias toward utility expansion has long blinded it to the interests of any larger public. In the 1970s, electrical co-ops sought to build a 430-mile-long high-voltage line through 476 farm properties in west-central Minnesota. Powerline opposition, described in scholarship by the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, was broad.19
The law was, conceivably, in the farmers’ favor. The 1971 Minnesota Environmental Rights Act applied to the project and declared the state’s policy “to promote efforts that will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of human beings[.]”20 A law requiring that the agency’s power plant and transmission siting decisions consider and “comport with the public interest” also applied to the project.21More than 60 percent of all Minnesotans and 70 percent of rural Minnesotans opposed the line.22 The Minnesota Energy Agency, the agency then designated to review applications for certificates of need, approved it anyway.
So it was for the new Line 3.
…The PUC staff took (the ALJ’s) 400-page report and ground it—and 55 other documents—into 46 pages of “staff briefing papers” that recommended granting Enbridge the certificate of need and its preferred expansion route.23
The staff briefing did not include any discussion of the extensive public comment on the case. But it did note that “the Commission need not engage in the exercise of reviewing the ALJ Report” itself since “[t]he Commission traditionally leaves it to staff to ensure that the final written order identifies the parts of an ALJ Report that have been adopted, with or without modification, and the parts [that] have not been adopted.”24
That filtered record moved forward to the five PUC commissioners who sat on the dais in June 2018 to decide whether to grant the certificate of need and route permit.
The PUC’s interest in the public – Jessica Intermill 5/26/21 (my emphasis)
While the PUC voted 5-0 that day in favor, their oppression of the public voice was more than clear:
Though the public didn’t really have a voice anyway. In fact, the attendance enforcement by the PUC got so bad that at one point the intervening parties could not get into the meeting themselves!
After opening statements, though, the commissioners directed the hearing, posing their own questions to the parties they wanted to hear from, and making their own statements into the record. The public could not comment at the hearing and parties could not rebut or cross-examine the testimony of other parties. …
Tensions escalated when, at PUC staff direction, St. Paul police removed two individuals with party badges from the building “because they were holding more than one ticket at a time.”30 Here too, the “rule” purportedly violated was not contained in any notice. PUC staff nonetheless refused to let the party representatives return.
Unsure who to contact to get their clients back into the building, the affected parties docketed a letter addressing the commissioners they appeared before.31 When the chair reopened the meeting the following day, she acknowledged the filing but said the commission would not address it because it was not the subject of the hearing. One intervenor responded with “an irregular oral objection[.]”32 When the chair began to call the docket, counsel for the Sierra Club interrupted, pleading, “I am in this room as a contract attorney without a client.”33 The meeting recessed.
The PUC’s interest in the public – Jessica Intermill 5/26/21
Throughout all this time and up unto this unanimous decision, the public had still NEVER HAD THE DIRECT RIGHT OF CONFRONTING THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSIONERS.
The fight was not over. In fact, it was becoming clearer all the time how egregious the Public Utilities Commission had been in dismissing the public.
Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor issued a report detailing the PUC’s public-participation processes in general, and the Line 3 processes in particular.39 It wasn’t pretty. …
The legislative auditor concluded its report with a punch list of concrete recommendations to improve the PUC’s public-participation process.42
Reviewing courts, too, must also be alert to biases that can hide behind, and skew, agency decisionmaking. “PUC officials told [the legislative auditor] the Line 3 case was an anomaly and that the agency’s practices, which they believe generally work well, should not be judged on this one case alone.”43 Various courts, though, are reviewing this case.44 A self-confessed anomaly can all too easily cross into an abuse of discretion.
Last year, the PUC revisited its approval of Line 3 to consider a revised EIS. It held the first—and only—public hearing that allowed citizens to speak directly to the commissioners about whether to approve Line 3. Again, most public commenters opposed the project.”
Toward a broader public interest – by Jessica Intermill 5/26/21 (my emphasis)
FINALLY! The public was given a voice. And once they were given that voice, CHANGE HAPPENED.
The Public Utilities Commission’s vote this time was NOT Unanimous. While he stood alone, Commissioner Matt Schuerger HAD listened to the people… and likely read more of the record that newest Commissioner Valerie Means claimed to have read – though she claimed to have read the whole thing! [FFS]
Commissioner Schuerger voted against Line 3 three times, concluding that the revised EIS was inadequate, that Enbridge had not proven its case for a certificate of need, and that Enbridge’s preferred route was not in Minnesota’s interest.”
Our Friend Commissioner Matt Schuerger!!
We’ll see what Ms. Intermill brings with Part 2. Meanwhile…
Advocacy groups have also requested intervention from the Biden administration to prevent construction from moving forward.
“We’ve tried everything up to this point, now we’re calling on the people to stand with us because the process failed us,” said Dawn Goodwin, co-founder of the Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging (RISE) coalition and a member of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “We’ve discovered that the process was never made to work in our favor. … We’ve called on people to come and stand and learn what it means to be treaty people.”
Protests expected in northern Minnesota as Enbridge presses to complete Line 3 by Dana Ferguson 5/28/21
Perhaps you will find your voice? Maybe you will answer Gaagigeyaashiik’s call and join the Treaty People’s Gathering June 5th through 8th?
It’s gonna take more than just a few of us… to bring the change needed to save our species.
[Though I’d argue perhaps we aren’t worth saving… if this is how we manage things.]
19 Monday Apr 2021
Posted in Local Reporting, Police Violence
Tags
Beat Saber, Black Lives Matter, Brooklyn Center, Chauvin, Daunte Wright, George Floyd, Kim Potter, Murder By Cop, wrongful death
Amidst the week’s long trial of the cop that murdered George Floyd – and yes, I use the term murder because we all witnessed what he did… he murdered George, someone with whom he had bad history… [no wonder he didn’t testify, it would have made the premeditation obvious] – we have yet another black man murdered by a cop in Brooklyn Center.
This time, it’s a “mistake” in that the female officer Kim Potter pulled, not her taser – a device meant only to stun – but her service revolver, a device that fatally wounded a man “unintentionally”. Apparently, even though everyone can clearly see the BLACK GUN in the body cam footage, she was too flustered to realize she hadn’t drawn her brightly colored taser, but her pistol which would render a young father dead.
My question is this:
With all the video games in the decades throughout my life, we’ve seen an amazing array of designs, not only for controllers but for new types of fitness gadgets from Wii Fit to Virtual Reality controllers. My wondering as I contemplate the murder of Daunte Wright, is why they didn’t design tasers to be more like a light saber or Wii fit paddle or FUCKING ANYTHING… besides a lot like a God Damn GUN?
I’m not the only one with this idea…
Alpert said a major factor in why officers mistakenly draw their firearm is that stun guns typically look and feel like a firearm. St. Paul, Minnesota, Mayor Melvin Carter brought up the same point during a news conference Monday.
“Why do we even have Tasers that operate and function and feel and deploy exactly like a firearm?” Carter asked. “Why can’t we have Tasers that look and feel different? That you could never mistake for deploying a firearm so that we can ensure that mistake that has happened before can never happen again?”
EXPLAINER: How does an officer use a gun instead of a Taser? By SEAN MURPHY April 12, 2021 (my emphasis)
If there has been confusion – and there has been, as recalled in the above AP piece which mentions police fucking up like this in the past in Oakland, Tulsa, and St. Louis – then WTF are we not doing something about it? Is it because things are operating fine according to the managers? Or is it too much trouble to re-design & re-train? I mean what’s a couple more dead black folks… to the system? Apparently no worry… as we watch settlements instead of solutions.
How many trials will the citizens of Minnesota pay for – and how many settlements to families wronged by police action will be paid – before we see real change?
It seems a simple solution is in order:
Will we see solutions? Or just more cops acting like the real criminals are those protesting their unnecessary and avoidable murders?
Perhaps our children can again light the way as adults seem to continue to fail…
While I was visiting my son in Colorado, we had a chance to experience Virtual Reality via a game called Beat Saber. This game is kind of a Star Wars meets Guitar Hero. The design has music playing with blocks associated to the beat which you slice through with light sabers (blue and red, so use the correct one for each block! And slice in the correct direction and a mid-point for best point totals…) to keep the music going.
Watching Celia play was amazing like a swing dancer cutting those blocks with a flip of the wrist. I too liked the swing of the patterns which guide you – yes, running the game without the slice indicators is FAR HARDER to manage as you must think to decide the best approach. Tom, on the other hand is stiff and robotic aiming for max precision on his blows. We also played Skyrim which was fucking amazing to experience! Running down hills of snow and shooting arrows… too cool.
While we enjoyed our vacation and helping our kids get settled in a new home, it was bittersweet being away from home watching many horrors unfold, from the Chauvin trial to the new daily atrocities facing people of color in the Deep North.
If our children have access to tools that clearly differentiate between gaming systems, is it not reasonable to expect that our police officers can do the same for tasers and guns? Especially as it is literally a matter of life and death?
Journalists are taking a stand against the egregious behavior of Minnesota law enforcement, now ordered by Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright (no irony there?) to obey the law with a Temporary Restraining Order. (FFS – is that what is required for police to obey the fucking law???)
The examples within this document referenced below are a depiction of the unlawful ways Minnesota law enforcement is dealing with protest, including violating the freedom of the press… simply working to document and protect Minnesotans and tell the story for citizens who are not present.
While it is good to see the Minnesota Department of Safety and State Police ordered to obey the law regarding journalists, there is no mention of County or other local law enforcement being held to the requirements of this TRO.
…April 16, District Court Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining all “agents, servants, employees, and representatives” of the Minnesota Department of Safety and the Minnesota State Patrol from committing violent and threatening acts against journalists, including:
(1) “arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force—including through use of flash bang grenades, non-lethal projectile, riot batons, or any other means. . .
(2) Requiring Journalists to disperse, or arresting Journalists for not dispersing;
(3) “using chemical agents” including pepper spray and tear gas; and
(4) “Seizing any photographic equipment, audio- or videorecording equipment, or press passes.”
Yet as discussed on our call, reports from journalists on the ground indicate that over the last several days—and even last night after the TRO was in effect—law enforcement officers have engaged in widespread intimidation, violence, and other misconduct directed at journalists that have interfered with their ability to report on matters of intense public interest and concern. …On today’s call, the question was posed whether this type of tension between law enforcement and the media is commonplace these days, or whether Minnesota is a unique example. Certainly, we live in politically and socially tense times and that is true across the country. But the abuses perpetrated by law enforcement officers in the Twin Cities over the past several nights—and going back to last summer—are alarming and, yes, threaten to set this State apart. They also are clear violations of the First Amendment, and for those officers subject to the TRO, they are in direct violation of the TRO.
30+ News organizations write to Governor Walz
And where is Walz? On FB, his update on this issue is… pretty quiet… except to blame Republicans… for his inability to manage the situation. And how about protecting the CITIZENS of Minnesota – you know, those people who elected you? Where we at with that, Timmy Four-Fingers? Silence.
24 Wednesday Mar 2021
Tags
#StopLine3, Birthday, Blessing, Friends of the Headwaters, Naabek, Naabek Liberty, Ojibwemowin, World Water Day
Well, I missed my regular Monday blog post day by a couple… as it’s been a whirlwind of a week! [This is only the second miss as I recall… the first was planned, for a Tommy visit, in the early days of blogging… and I want to keep it to a minimum, so I’m counting this as an approved Birthday Delay in posting!!]
So many blessings… and World Water Day coinciding with my birthday! Surprising Serendipity!!
And the fun continues… so thrilled to get a fun shout out from Smart Mark Agee of The Evening Skews (with Trae Crowder). [Love those guys.]
And thrilled to hear what seems like some judges who had done their homework on the Line 3 Challenges in the MN Court of Appeals. [The key is reading the dissent from PUC Commissioner Matt Scheurger, as he laid it out pretty succinctly (Pages D1-11). Here’s a lovely video from seekjoy on the last big public hearing at the PUC… with love going to Commissioner Matt (2:20 of the 2-2:30 coverage marking his courage)] The submitted briefs appear to have been well read as good questions ensued indicating Enbridge had perhaps NOT provided a Demand forecast for their project (as required by law)… and instead gave only a fantasy SUPPLY forecast for the PUC to consider. Sure hoping we see a reversal of the PUC’s Line 3 Certificate of Need order – as it was given capriciously and without proper consideration of Minnesota law. (IMHO)
Hoping you all have a blessed year as well.
Chi-Miigwech Miinawaa, Indinawemaa Odinawemaaganan!
{I’m learning… and believe this translates to… Big Thanks, again, to All my Relatives!
Chi-Miigwech to Naabek who is teaching me.
You can join us… every Wednesday… That’s TONIGHT! 7PM Passcode: 054633
Bring your emikwaanensan! :D}
