Beginning in April, 2023, Robert Lundahl and Tracker Ginamarie Rangel Quinone (Nde Western Apache), began producing episodes for KPFK Radio, Los Angeles on mining and extractive activities.
Here’s what we learned–
OUR FEDERAL LAW
PROGRESSIVE, IDEALISTIC, COMPREHENSIVE
THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT WAS ENACTED JANUARY 1, 1970
NEPA recognizes that each person,
as well as organizations and local governments have opportunities to
preserve the environment
as
trustees
for succeeding generations.
There are laws, and then there are the interpretations of laws and the execution of justice.
The laws protect the land, that is your home and home to living communities of animals, plants, and other people who have been there forever, since time immemorial.
And, someone wants all that to be graded down to dust. Why?
Well, it happens, and NEPA or the National Environmental Policy Act, voted into existence by the US Congress in 1969, is a tool to invite and amplify public voices and commentary, and creates a set of laws by which the public, tribes and communities can object to environmentally or culturally damaging projects on federal land.
NEPA created new laws requiring federal government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of actions and decisions.
NEPA includes Executive Order 12898, directing each federal agency to “make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations, including tribal.”
Such protections are necessary.
Because... NEPA can get in the way of the wealthy, the greedy, and sometimes the well–intentioned or misinformed.
Bill Powers’ colorful retort captures the motive.
–Bill Powers P.E., Who Are My People? Film, Robert Lundahl, 2015/2023.
Business is Business.
“And you hear, ‘I'm sorry, there is no time, let's move this (project) along.
It doesn't matter.
It's go, go. go. We're moving.”
Depending on the scope of the project, the federal agency will prepare either an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
These reports state the potential environmental effects of the proposed action along with any possible mitigating actions, including a "no action alternative". The process allows for public comment and requires consultation with Tribes.
The public and Tribes can sue if the Final Assessment (FA) allows for unacceptable outcomes.
NEPA recognizes that each person, as well as organizations and local governments have opportunities to preserve the environment as trustees for succeeding generations.
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Something’s happening
The weekly, KPFK Los Angeles Documentary Radio Series titled Creative FRONTLINE, begins at the Ft. Yuma Indian Reservation outside Yuma, Arizona with Elder, Preston Arrow-weed (Quechan).
The Series travels the lands of the West, South to North and back again– so audiences can gain a better understanding of the pressures on natural systems from over–use of “resources,” or destruction of biomes, and negative impacts to people and to tribal communities, and what can be done about it.
A short list of relevant episode links follows.
Austin Ringelstein
An Archaeological Perspective (Print)
http://salem-news.com/articles/june032023/thacker-pass-archaeological-rl.php
Thacker Pass, An Archaeological Perspective - Salem-News.Com
Austin Ringelstein joined the U.S. Navy before 911. After, he wound up on the bomb squad, defusing munitions in Iraq.Now he's on a bomb squad of a different kind: helping to defuse the bombs of failure to consult and its resulting disharmony.....
salem-news.com
ACCOUNTABILITY
Mining and Monuments
Pat Gonzales Rogers, Frmr. Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition
Yale School of the Environment
https://youtu.be/-gL26c4DwBc?si=UM-Sk5IpJKbLRcai
What do we Mean By Environmental Justice? A Legacy of Greenaction with Bradley Angel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6sRsc51t2Y
What’s Really Going On at the Amargosa River Basin, Ash Meadows, and Beyond?
Chief Johnny Bobb, Western Shoshone Nation.
https://youtu.be/qXgEvPlBtOU?si=epJnQOzezFdQLKsF
PeeHee Muhu Rotten Moon with Dorece Sam, (Paiute NuWu), others–
https://youtu.be/I5Fn-ptNtwo?si=afqbBHzrUh1uYbMo
The Fight to Save Thacker Pass (Print)
http://salem-news.com/articles/may242023/will-falk-thacker-pass-rl.php
Shelly Harjo Dissident
https://youtu.be/wy6t9uGzUSs?si=cKPGyfjssYzH-YBP
Lithium in America – Survey of projects, Thacker Pass, Oro Cruz, Salton Sea, Oak Flat.
https://youtu.be/_XaL6iO11fg?si=ClgbnRFEFRNkPw70
Water in the West: The Last Oasis (Compiled clips for film)
https://youtu.be/HcOtDrSBm40?si=0a5XWu_aGHXkYrVY
The Land You Know Has Been Given to You.
Preston Arrow-weed.
https://youtu.be/Pqo0w_8MQnM?si=vTVlPOcrjtYRxAim
CHANGE
Oak Flat: The Story Behind the Story. Mahlee Yellowfeather, Geronimo’s Great Grand Daughter, (Chiricahua Apache).
https://youtu.be/2-5n7yfufxE?si=eudX7fr4KkFM6xzb
Dorece Sam (Ft. McDermitt Pai-Sho Tribe), SLAPP Suits and Dirty Deals at Thacker Pass.
https://youtu.be/TmY4rECbYVw?si=2iQ6RTAOFSZtyenX
Incident at Ft. McDermitt (Audio) Dorece Sam (Ft. McDermitt Pai-Sho Tribe). (Audio).
https://on.soundcloud.com/JstzzRJpe3NK12Le9
There was an incident at Ft McDermitt, at a community meeting between Lithium Nevada and the Pai-Sho community at the Ft. McDermitt Tribe. The headline could read, "Ft. McDermitt tribal leader attacks
on.soundcloud.com
Salton Sea Lithium Extraction with Sean Milanovich (Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians).
https://youtu.be/UhbhNCWZd4w?si=qLqxIdhBUpd0MQSA
Chasing the American Dream in Lithium Valley (Print)
http://salem-news.com/articles/august142023/american-dream-lithium-valley-rl_.php
A Story Told–Benefits or a Curse at Thacker Pass (Print)
http://salem-news.com/articles/october072023/fort_mcdermitt-lithium_america-rl.php
A Story Told: Benefits or a Curse at Thacker Pass - Salem-News.Com
Shelley Harjo takes us behind the scenes to reveal the pressure her community is feeling to accept the terms of agreement handed to them by the company, requiring non-disclosure (Gag Order) in exchange for community “benefits” that may be a .....
salem-news.com
Timbisha: Lithium Extraction Showdown at Ash Meadows, Mandi Campbell (Timbisha Shoshone Tribe).
https://youtu.be/WwI5QQee8mI?si=4P_pN-4g1e2uJi0c
Pupfish
Amargosa (Audio), with Mason Voehl, Amargosa Conservancy.
https://on.soundcloud.com/vUU7Cowrug9NC1gH7
Pupfish. Little blue creatures endemic to pools upwelling amid rock strata at Ash Meadows. Here on Creative FRONTLINE, we’ve done several shows on water in the West. Only not the same water from your
on.soundcloud.com
One Minute Creative FRONTLINE Series Intro
https://youtu.be/GoCe_lIGTZ4?si=_DDVJ-lZyI_NJmwS
All episodes may be found at
Visit our website at
Storytelling, Leadership, and Action for companies, non–profits, and communities
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