https://www.hcn.org/articles/western-climate-litigants-keep-fighting/
"Mario Atencio (Diné) always looked forward to visiting his grandmother in
Counselor, New Mexico. She lived what he describes as a “simple Navajo
lifestyle” in the small rural town, raising dozens of animals on her lush green
property, which he remembers as a magical and peaceful place.
But that began to change in 2015, when oil and gas drillers started fracking
operations in the state’s northwest corner, known as the Greater Chaco
Landscape. Soon, Atencio’s grandmother’s land was surrounded by noise and air
pollution. In 2019, both the land and the water beneath it were contaminated by
massive spills that leaked thousands of gallons of oil. Once-abundant plants,
including traditional medicinal herbs, no longer grew on the land, and rare
birds and wildlife were disappearing, too.
Two years ago, Atencio became the lead plaintiff in what could soon become a
landmark climate litigation case. The lawsuit accuses the New Mexico
Legislature and state agencies of actively harming Indigenous communities and
failing to uphold their constitutional duty to prevent harmful pollution. “The
rights that we have as Indigenous people to free, informed, prior consent are
being violated,” Atencio said. “We’ve never had people from the government come
and say, ‘This is what’s going to happen to your land and water.’”
After winding its way through the legal system, the lawsuit will go before the
New Mexico Supreme Court, which agreed this month to hear the case. If the
court rules in Atencio’s favor, the case would join high-profile decisions like
Held v. Montana, a suit brought by young people who accused Montana of
violating their constitutional right to a healthy environment by not regulating
greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, young, Indigenous climate advocates in
Hawai’i won a case against the state’s Department of Transportation for its
continued support of highway expansion projects — despite the state’s directive
to decarbonize its transportation sector by 2045."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-bike-friendly-world-mission/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
