Legal Win For Groups Fighting Shitstain's Attempt To Destroy Bears Ears, Escalante NMs
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On Tuesday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., handed a procedural victory to the coalition of indigenous nations, outdoor-activity companies, and environmental groups suing the U.S. government over the cuts to two expanses of wilderness in Utah.
The decision sets the stage for the acrimonious legal battle to come, about whether President Trump can shrink Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and cut Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument nearly in half. His cuts rank among the largest ever made to any national monument. Both monuments, located in southern Utah, were created by Democratic presidents.
Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling last week gave the environmentalists two key advantages in that fight. First, she ordered that the president’s legal opponents must receive advance notice of any plans to break new ground at the site. She also denied the government’s bid to transfer the case to a federal court in Utah, a jurisdiction that might have been more favorable to the president’s case.
The victories, though procedural, may ultimately prove crucial in the case. The groundbreaking decision is particularly key: It ensures that advocates will learn of any prospecting or oil-drilling activities before they occur. Heidi McIntosh, an attorney at the environmental group Earthjustice and a lead counsel in the case, told me that litigants could now ask the court to issue an injunction to stop environmentally destructive activities before they occur. Under normal circumstances, the Bureau of Land Management would not need to notify the public (or environmental groups) before approving some types of exploratory oil drilling or uranium mining.
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https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/environmentalists-win-early-victory-against-trump-cuts-bears-ears-grand-staircase/571708/
