Climate Justice Forum: Activism News 12-24-12

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On the Monday, December 24, Climate Justice Forum radio program, Wild Idaho Rising Tide organizer Helen Yost will feature updates on the emerging First Nations Idle No More movement against recently passed Canadian federal legislation that would degrade indigenous rights.  Broadcast on KRFP Radio Free Moscow between 7:30 and 9:30 pm PST live at 92.5 FM and online, and later aired on KMEC in Ukiah, California, the show also covers news about regional and continent-wide dirty energy developments and climate activism.  Thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted Helen as his KRFP DJ: please adopt our fellow DJs through the KRFP website!

Fix Existing U.S. 95

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David Hall, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/22/12

The original report that the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) produced was an environmental assessment (EA), not an improperly done draft environmental impact statement (EIS) as stated in the Daily News’ editorial on December 13.  An EA is a much less rigorous review than an EIS, which the court ordered.

Safety is the largest issue here and the supposed reason for the realignment/upgrade.  It has not been shown to my satisfaction that the eastern alignment would be safer than, or even as safe as, the other alignment options.  There is quite a bit of testimony that there is increased snow, fog, and other hazardous weather and driving conditions on the shoulder of Paradise Ridge compared to the existing route.  In addition, the eastern alignment might require deer/elk/moose fencing to attempt to keep game off the highway.

With safety of the driving public of primary importance, why has the Idaho Transportation Department done nothing in the past ten years to improve safety along the existing HIghway 95 route?  I am sure there are things that ITD could have done – reducing the speed limits, placing warning signs, and probably some localized realignments.  It makes so much more sense to fix the existing route than to plow through a new area. Continue reading →

WIRT Newsletter: Climate Activism, Human Rights, Megaload Monitor Trial, & Oil on Rails

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Dear Friends,

Carpools to the Winter Solstice Party on Paradise Ridge southeast of Moscow depart the Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) Activist House at 4 pm (or call 208-301-8039 for directions)!

CLIMATE ACTIVISM

AGU Scientist Asks, ‘Is Earth F**ked?’ Surprising Answer: Resistance is NOT Futile! (December 9 ThinkProgress)

Nils provided this scientific paper abstract that suggests that WIRT’s efforts represent an essential part of the solution to American climate woes: Resistance and activism are necessary!

Chris Hedges Lecture, Occupy the Future, at MIT (December 6 video)

Author-activist Chris Hedges discusses how problems with the current political system sparked the Occupy movement and where the movement is going.  Co-sponsored by Boston Review and MIT’s political science department, the presentation occurred as part of the “Ideas Matter” series.

Let Your Life Be a Friction to Stop the Machine (February 13 video) (website excerpted) Continue reading →

Megaload Monitor Jury Trial Outcomes

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On Thursday, December 13, the Kootenai County Court in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, heard a six-hour, well-argued jury trial that appealed to the public, rather than the government, to defend the civil liberties of a citizen monitoring an Alberta tar sands megaload on Highway 95.  Idaho State Police Corporal Ron Sutton accused co-activists Cici Claar and Helen Yost of not wearing safety restraints in a parked vehicle, arrested them for resisting/obstructing an officer, and imposed an inexplicable night in the county jail, when they refused to identify themselves amongst the ExxonMobil police state on Highway 95 on August 26-27, 2011.  WIRT’s day in court started at 8:30 am with jury selection from about 30 gathered citizens, as Helen and her defending Moscow lawyer Ben Onosko weighed the odds stacked against them but hoped that a jury could empathize with the shock of sudden imprisonment for no significant reason.  Ben worked diligently throughout the trial to help the jury appreciate the precedents for civil liberties violations that they would set by siding with Corporal Sutton, who searched, seized, and jailed vehicle passengers without just cause.

Early in the trial, the prosecutor convinced Magistrate Judge Robert Caldwell to dismiss the evidence and results of the previous seat belt infraction trial and three pre-trial hearings on motions to suppress charges and a motion for reconsideration.  Representing the State of Idaho, the prosecutor presented her simple but assertive case that the defendant contested the infraction and ID request at roadside rather than in court.  The defense described Helen’s extensive academic and activist background and asserted that Idaho state police targeted the monitoring vehicle and its occupants for protest repression.  Although Helen never uttered a word in this court until trial conclusion, Corporal Sutton took the witness stand and noted his officer certifications before he described the place of the disputed incident and his approach of the driver Sharon Cousins’ vehicle and requests of driver and passenger IDs.  After commenting on the seatbelt-less state of the back seat passengers Cici and Helen, he explained the reasons for his ID requests and how Ms. Yost denied and debated them. Continue reading →

Weather Delays Move of Oversized Shipment

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Weather has delayed an extra-long shipment that was scheduled to move from the Port of Lewiston across north central Idaho on U.S. Highway 12 late Thursday evening and this morning (Friday, December 21).

Snow was likely at Powell Thursday night near the Montana border, according to the National Weather Service.

No new date has been set to move the 163-foot-long rig carrying a generator skid, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.

(By The Lewiston Tribune)

Extra-Long Rig Will Move on U.S. Highway 12

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Motorists may experience traffic delays as long as 15 minutes, as an extra-long rig makes its way across Idaho on U.S. Highway 12 tonight and Friday morning.

The 163-foot-long truck will carry a generator skid from the Port of Lewiston to the Montana border between 10 pm today (Thursday, December 20) and 5:30 am on Friday if weather permits, according to a news release from the Idaho Transportation Department.

The National Weather Service is predicting a wide range of weather on the route.  Temperatures in Lewiston are expected to be 35 degrees with a 20 percent chance of rain.  Snow is likely at Powell near the Montana border, with temperatures in the low 20s.

The shipment is 15 feet wide, 16 1/2 feet tall, and 242,800 pounds and will need two lanes of traffic to negotiate corners, according to the transportation department.  It is also set to cause a delay for vehicles on U.S. Highway 95 near the Spalding bridge.

Many details about the cargo were not disclosed by the transportation department on Wednesday.  A news release announcing the shipment was issued after the agency’s close of business.

(By The Lewiston Tribune)

WIRT Newsletter: Solstice Party, Coal Export Comments, Hearings, & Other News

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Just Do It: A Tale of Modern-Day OutlawsHappy Winter Solstice, Brave Comrades!

UPCOMING WIRT ACTIONS & INITIATIVES

Wednesday, December 19: Palouse Transition (to a post-fossil fuel world!) meeting, including possible working groups addressing food, transportation, and energy, at 5:30 pm in the lower room of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse

Thursday, December 20: Public comment period deadline, which should be extended upon your request, for Australian coal company Ambre Energy’s applications for Oregon Department of Environmental Quality air and storm water pollution permits to operate the proposed Coyote Island coal terminal at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Oregon

Friday, December 21: Winter Solstice Party Core Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) radical Cass Davis personally invites you and all of his local fellow activists and friends to his shared home on the south side of Paradise Ridge, for a kid-friendly winter solstice party on Friday, December 21.  He and his partner Erika are providing fried fish – crappie caught in north Idaho lakes – and french fries grown in their garden on the ridge, cooked between 4:30 and 6:00 pm, after which they hope to light a bonfire.  Although not necessary, they encourage guests to bring their drinks of choice and other potluck food, but no dogs.  They have two of their own dogs and their visiting friends have another two, so the chaos of constantly watching additional dogs could mar the party enjoyment of both hosts and guests.  But if snow still covers the ground on Friday, please come early for skiing and sledding during daylight hours before the fish fry.  Engaging in plenty of political discussion around the table and fire, the party will last until the end of the world or until we all run out of steam.

Thursday, January 3, 2013: Comment period conclusion for Coyote Island port proponent Ambre Energy’s removal-fill permit application to the Oregon Department of State Lands, extended to a third thirty days thanks to the Yakama Tribe’s alleged notification exclusion and 16,000 dissenting petition signatures (website includes other comments)

For more information and comment suggestions on these Morrow Pacific Project proposals, fast-tracked by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with only an environmental assessment, not a full environmental impact statement (EIS) like for the proposed Gateway Pacific coal export terminal near Bellingham, see the Columbia Riverkeeper, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, and WIRT websites, listen to Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky of Columbia Riverkeeper on the Monday, December 3, Climate Justice Forum radio program, and read the following articles and attached three documents (DEQ Hearing Talking Points, Memo Re Land Use at Port Westward, and Coalition Public Comment on Removal-Fill Permit Application).  With your submitted remarks, request comment period extensions, public hearings in Idaho and Montana, and a region-wide programmatic EIS examining the cumulative impacts of ALL associated coal mines, trains, and ports, as advised by the Environmental Protection Agency. Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: Jesse Cardinal 12-17-12

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On the Monday, December 17, Climate Justice Forum radio program, Wild Idaho Rising Tide again gratefully welcomes Jesse Cardinal, the downriver coordinator for Keepers of the Athabasca and co-organizer of the annual Tar Sands Healing Walk near Fort McMurray, in Alberta.  Jesse will talk about First Nations resistance through protests and court cases to tar sands exploitation and through an emerging movement against recently passed Canadian federal legislation that would degrade indigenous rights.  Broadcast on KRFP Radio Free Moscow between 7:30 and 9:30 pm PST live at 92.5 FM and online, and later aired on KMEC in Ukiah, California, the show also covers regional and continent-wide dirty energy developments and climate activism news.  Thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as his KRFP DJ!

Palouse Prairie Foundation’s Tim Hatten Speaks about Rare Ecosystem Threatened by U.S. Highway 95 Realignment Plans

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KRFP Radio Free Moscow features an interview with Tim Hatten of the Palouse Prairie Foundation, between 15:29 and 6:09 of the Thursday, December 13, 2012, Evening Report, Palouse Prairie & U.S. 95.  Tim describes this rare grassland ecosystem and Highway 95 realignment threats to its integrity.

Highway 95 Section Needs Fix Sooner than Later

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Murf Raquet (for the editorial board), Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/13/12

Realignment, reroute, fix, or upgrade, whatever term you prefer, it looks as if a treacherous portion of U.S. Highway 95 is finally getting the attention it has needed for a long time.

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has issued a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for its selection of a new route for Highway 95 between Thorn Creek Road and south Moscow.  ITD has picked the E2 route to the east of Highway 95 on Paradise Ridge.

More than a decade ago, Idaho officials had planned to build a straighter and safer 6.5-mile stretch of the state’s major north-south road.  They had proposed numerous options to the west and east of the curvy part and one that improved the existing section.

An alternative that rerouted the highway over parts of Paradise Ridge was then also favored by the state.  Residents on the ridge and others objected, saying the road would have a disastrous effect on portions of Palouse prairie that manage to exist in patches on the ridge.

A lawsuit was filed in 2003 saying the state did not properly conduct a DEIS for the route.  (Some folks even tried to save the beleaguered prairie by tying it to the giant Palouse earthworm, but the grassroots movement gained little traction.) Continue reading →