The US government has suspended its effort to survey #cryptocurrency#mining operations over their ballooning energy use following a lawsuit from an industry that has been accused by environmental groups of fueling the climate crisis.
A federal judge in Texas has granted a temporary order #blocking the new requirements that would ascertain the energy use of the crypto miners, stating that the industry had shown it would suffer “#irreparable#injury” if it was made to comply.
“In the US, where nearly four in 10 of all #bitcoin are now mined, up to 50m tons of carbon dioxide is released each year due to the #mining operations, according to RMI, a clean energy thinktank.” 🤯
Opinion: Why the birthplace of the Western #Apache religion shouldn’t be destroyed by a #CopperMine
by Luke Goodrich
February 6, 2024·
"A federal court is poised to decide whether a #NativeAmerican#sacred site will be destroyed by a massive #copper#mine. Mining proponents claim that destroying the #SacredSite is necessary for the development of #GreenEnergy. That claim is both factually wrong and morally repugnant. And recent polling shows that the vast majority of Americans agree with what the constitution requires: #Native sacred sites deserve the same protection as all other houses of worship.
"Since before European contact, #WesternApache and other Native tribes have lived and honored their #Creator at #OakFlat, or 'Chi’chil Bildagoteel.' The site is the birthplace of Western Apache religion and the site of ancient religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Because of its religious and cultural significance, Oak Flat is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been protected from mining and other destructive practices for decades.
"That changed in 2014, when several members of Congress, supported by #corporate#mining#lobbyists, slipped an amendment into a must-pass defense bill authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to a foreign-owned mining giant. That company, #ResolutionCopper, announced plans to obliterate the sacred ground by swallowing it in a mining crater nearly two miles wide and 1,100-feet deep, ending Apache religious practices forever. That was no surprise given the company’s sordid history dealing with #IndigenousPeoples. The majority owner of Resolution Copper is #RioTinto (the world’s second largest mining company), which sparked international outrage in 2020 when it destroyed a 46,000-year-old rock shelter with some of the most significant #Aboriginal artifacts in all of #Australia.
"The Apache and their allies, represented by my firm, the #BecketFundForReligiousLiberty, have been fighting in court to ensure that such an atrocity won’t repeat itself at Oak Flat. After initial court rulings against the Apache, a full panel of 11 judges at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reheard their appeal last spring. A decision on whether the government can execute the land transfer is expected any day.
"Resolution Copper and its backers want the public to believe that building the mine is essential for developing #renewable energy. Extracting the copper beneath Oak Flat, they say, will help to build batteries necessary for powering #ElectricVehicles and thus fight #ClimateChange. In other words, we have to destroy Oak Flat in order to save the planet.
"These claims, however, are false — and they are specifically designed to obscure the physical and cultural destruction the project would wreak on the land.
"The mine will destroy the #environment, not save it. It is undisputed that the mine will swallow the ecologically diverse landscape of Oak Flat in a massive crater, decimating the local #ecosystem. It will also leave behind approximately 1.37 billion tons of '#tailings,' or #MiningWaste, which, according to the government’s own environmental assessment, will pollute the #groundwater and scar the landscape permanently. And the mine will consume vast quantities of water at the time it is most needed by drought-stricken towns and #farmers.
"Supporters of the mine are also at odds with the majority of Americans. According to this year’s Religious Freedom Index, an annual survey conducted by Becket, 74% of Americans believe that Native sacred sites on federal land should be protected from mining projects, even when the projects are purportedly pro-jobs and pro-environment.
"That conclusion is both sensible and humane. America can transition to renewable energy without blasting the cradle of Western Apache religion into oblivion. And it should. For too long, our nation has made excuses for taking advantage of #IndigenousPeople and their land. Indeed, our nation drove the Western Apache off Oak Flat and surrounding lands in the 1800s precisely to make way for #MiningInterests. It shouldn’t repeat that #injustice again.
"It is past time to protect Indigenous sacred sites from further destruction. Basic fairness and our constitutional commitment to religious freedom require no less. And, happily, most Americans agree."
Here's everything you need to know about the WA government's backdown on its #Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws
By Jake Sturmer
Posted Tue 8 Aug 2023
"The WA government's 2021 changes were supposed to prevent what it described as a 'global embarrassment' from ever happening again.
"Instead, the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act has left many farmers confused and traditional owners frustrated.
"After just five weeks in operation, the government has backflipped — trying to stem the political bleeding that is tainting WA's new premier and now muddying the waters of the Voice referendum debate.
So what's changing?
"It's important to remember that any activities that could damage Aboriginal cultural heritage still need approval.
"The old-but-soon-to-be-new 1972 act meant the minister had to tick off on every action no matter how minor — known as a Section 18 approval.
WA premier announces repeal of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws
"Just five weeks after being legislated, Roger Cook announces the WA government will be scrapping its #AboriginalCulturalHeritageLaws.
"The 2021 act created a system of tiers and approvals.
"Want to build a fence with no clearing? No approval required.
"New #mine site with deep excavation? You'll need a management plan that has to be ticked off by a local Aboriginal organisation at your expense.
"But the government acknowledged these tiers have caused massive confusion and will therefore be scrapped.
"There were reports the rules would have prevented everything from gardening to installing a swimming pool, building a garage or burying a pet in the backyard.
"In fact, such activities were exempt, as were all properties smaller than 1,100 square metres.
"So it's no surprise the biggest outcry came from farmers.
How will another Juukan Gorge be prevented?
"When landowners requested to damage or destroy heritage sites, they needed one of those #Section18 approvals from the minister.
"If the minister rejected that, developers had a right to appeal but traditional owners did not.
"As part of the government's backflip, it will amend the laws to give a right of appeal to the native title party whose cultural heritage is impacted.
"Developers will also have to bring any new heritage information to the government's attention."
Two underground metro entrance canopies rusting away in a vacant lot in the tiny desert mining town of Goldfield, Nevada. Only in Nevada... o_0 (Photo: 10/06/2021.)
Over several months, @thenarwhal & The Globe and Mail have scoured publicly available records, reviewed financial data & interviewed experts about #BritishColumbia's mine reclamation plan & found that, in practice, BC was short $753-million of the estimated #cleanup cost in its last financial year & some of the best-capitalized companies have not yet paid for future #ReclamationCosts.
Traditional owners claim Queensland government breaching human rights over potential Adani contamination https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-17/traditional-owners-claim-potential-contamination-springs-adani/103470148 via @ABCaustralia
'Traditional owners of Adani's Queensland mine site have launched landmark legal action claiming the state government has breached their human rights by failing to stop potential contamination and other threats to their sacred wetlands.
Their case relies on expert findings that the Indian coal miner may have already polluted the nationally important Doongmabulla Springs with hydrocarbons and caused a harmful decline in groundwater sources.
The Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Cultural Custodians group has asked Queensland's Supreme Court to intervene after the government refused to suspend operations at the Carmichael mine, near Clermont.' #auslaw#auspol#IndigenousIP#mining#wetlands
#ISDS#FossilFuels#ClimateChange#Mining: "Investors argue that ISDS protects them from arbitrary, discriminatory or unpredictable treatment in countries that might lack independent or competent judiciaries. It safeguards their “legitimate expectation” of regulatory certainty, proportionality and profit.
But investors and tribunals have also used this idea to preclude states “from taking action to address climate change, despite these actions being necessary and foreseeable for decades”, the UN report said.
The sums involved have mushroomed and can be jaw-dropping. One Singapore-based company, Zeph Investments, is suing Australia for A$300bn (£155bn) because its government turned down a proposed mining project; the company argues Australia breached free-trade treaty obligations that it relied on. In another case, Avima Iron Ore is seeking $27bn from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Faced with such claims, often “governments just capitulate,” Boyd said. The result is a regulatory chill, in which fossil fuel companies may “block national legislation aimed at phasing out the use of their assets”, as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) noted."
Here a recommendations to governments about mining.
It follows a fact-finding report on El Salvador’s detained water defenders, the potential return of environmentally destructive mining, and the state of human rights under the Bukele administration: https://ips-dc.org/report-state-of-deception-human-rights-under-bukele/@environment