1/25/24

USACE ignoring "first in time, first in right" tribal sovereignty

How is it that South Dakota Republicans are militantly divided over the utility of eminent domain for private enterprise for pipelines to move carbon dioxide but are just fine with employing it for the entrepreneurial transport of oil and gas?

Industrial agriculture is ecocide and for those of us who love the Earth CO2 pipelines are subsidized corporate greenwashing but ironically many Republicans actually benefitting from reduced greenhouse emissions decry the sequestration of carbon as caving to the Green New Deal. 

David Ganje is an attorney based in Rapid City where he practices environmental law. He contends that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) within US Department of Transportation is in the pocket of industry.
The first applicant to use water (a so-called a senior appropriator) in the state may be granted authority to draw from the water source as against later applicants and users (so-called junior appropriators). This is the important doctrine commonly known as "first in time, first in right." [David Ganje: When it comes to 'public waters,' who should have access?]
In 2017 a US District Court ordered the US Army Corps of Engineers to finish a review of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Dakota Excess pipeline, its impact on tribal interests and how a spill under the Oahe Reservoir would impact groundwater and surface water rights for the Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Yankton and Oglala Lakota nations.
The Corps’ climate analysis in the DEIS systematically underestimates the climate impacts of DAPL. The DEIS relies on outdated climate projections, fails to report impacts beyond 2050, uses flawed greenhouse gas (GHG) and social cost of carbon calculations, and limits relevance to such a narrow scope to make the assessment meaningless. Tribal consultation is paramount in recognizing Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Per the White House’s Uniform Standards for Tribal Consultation, this process is ‘a two-way, Nation-to-Nation exchange of information and dialogue between official representatives of the United States and of Tribal Nations regarding Federal policies that have Tribal implications.’ Located in the Pentagon, it is difficult to determine how much impact Congress [and/or] the White House have on Corps’ bureaucracy. As Commander-in-Chief, the president does have an influence on Pentagon departments and policies, and appointed those in leadership capacities. [Congress moves to assist tribes in DAPL Battle]
Nearly every moving stream, intermittent or not in South Dakota, has supported a pre-settlement Amerindian or European explorer pulling and propelling a dugout or canoe over it so how is that not "first in time, first in right?"
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 25, 2024 at 8:38 AM

    So, Mr. hypocrite, since you live in the middle of what used to be "native American land," when are you going to practice what you preach and turn it over to a family of native americans? What's that you say? You're not. Typical retard liberal you are.

    ReplyDelete
  2. larry kurtzJanuary 25, 2024 at 8:59 AM

    With few exceptions every human on Earth lives on land previously occupied by other humans but does the US Constitution survive an extinction level event? As long as there are lawyers there’s no such thing as settled law.

    ReplyDelete

Republican is simply another word for Earth hater but comments intended to troll the author or other readers will not be published so use a handle or even your real name and don’t be an asshole.