USDA Delays Transfer of Sacred Apache Ceremonial Site

As previously reported, last month an Arizona federal district court refused to enjoin a federal conveyance of a sacred Apache ceremonial ground know as Oak Flat to Resolution Copper. Yesterday the Department of Agriculture announced that it has delayed the transfer by rescinding its previous environmental impact statement, saying in part:

The recent Presidential Memorandum on tribal consultation and strengthening nation to nation relationships counsels in favor of ensuring the Forest Service has complied with the environmental, cultural, and archaeological analyses required. USDA has concluded that additional time is necessary to fully understand concerns raised by Tribes and the public.... Because the Resolution Copper Mine and Land Exchange Project was directed under the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, long term protection of the site will likely require an act of Congress. USDA and the Forest Service cannot give a precise length of time for completing the re-initiation of consultation but consultations such as this generally take several months.

Arizona Republic reports on the USDA's action.

Cert. Filed By Catholic Order Objecting To Pipeline Approval

Last Friday, a petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Adorers of the Blood of Christ v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, (cert. filed 10.19/2018).  In the case, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a challenge under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to FERC's approval of a pipeline project. The natural gas pipeline runs through land owned by an order of Catholic nuns whose religious beliefs require them to preserve the earth. Developers were authorized to acquire land for the pipeline by eminent domain. Adorers of the Blood of Christ issued a press release announcing the filing of the petition for review.

New Delhi Reacts To Diwali Fireworks Ban

Today's New York Times reports on the impact in New Delhi of a ruling by India's Supreme Court reinstating a ban, motivated by environmental concerns, on the sale of fireworks in the National Capital Region. In September, the court had temporarily suspended the ban. Traditionally the Hindu festival of Diwali-- celebrated this Thursday-- has been marked by extensive fireworks.  However last year the fireworks led to ten days of dangerous pollution in New Delhi and led to a temporary closing of public primary schools.

Court Says Environmentalism Is Not A Religion

In Krause v. Tulsa City-County Library Commission, (ND OK, Jan. 23, 2017), a Oklahoma federal district court dismissed plaintiff's complaint that "fake" recycling bins in the downtown Tulsa library unconstitutionally burden his practice of his religion which he says is Environmentalism.  According to the court:

Plaintiff’s ... Complaint contains no factual support for Plaintiff’s conclusory assertion that Environmentalism is a religious, and not a secular practice or lifestyle....

Even if this Court were to accept that Environmentalism constitutes a religion or a religious practice, Plaintiff’s allegations do not support a plausible conclusion that the Defendant’s recycling program imposes a substantial burden on the exercise of a religious practice. 

Unitarian Church Sues Saying It Has Religious Duty To Use Solar Panels

RLUIPA Defense blog reported last week on a suit filed in late June in Massachusetts by a Unitarian church seeking to install solar panels on its building in an Historic District. The complaint (full text) in First Parish in Bedford, Unitarian Universalist v. Historic District Commission of the Town of Bedford, (MA Superior Ct., filed 6/27/2016), contends that the denial of a certificate of appropriateness to install solar panels on the roof of its Meetinghouse infringes church members' free exercise of religion in violation of the Massachusetts and U.S. Constitutions. The complaint alleges that:

Unitarian Universalists ... believe that their religion necessarily involves taking action on a personal, congregational and community level to confront and mitigate mankind's role in causing and exacerbating global warming.

Muslim Leaders Issue Declaration On Global Climate Change

As reported by the Washington Post, last week Muslim leaders and scholars from 20 countries issued an Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change. Issued in anticipation of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol taking place in Paris this December, 2015, it urges well-off nations and oil-producing states to lead the way in phasing out greenhouse gas emissions.  It calls on governments and business to commit themselves to 100 % renewable energy and/or a zero emissions strategy as early as possible.

White House Honors Climate Faith Leaders

RNS reports that on Monday the White House honored 12 "Climate Faith Leaders" as part of its Champions of Change program. The White House website highlights the accomplishments of the twelve leaders-- Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu-- in the environmental area.

9th Circuit: Indian Tribe's Challenge To California Geothermal Leases Can Proceed

In Pit River Tribe v. Bureau of Land Management, (9th Cir., July 20, 2015), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's dismissal of an Indian tribe's challenge to the Bureau of Land Management's extension of 26 unproven geothermal leases in northeastern California’s Medicine Lake Highlands. Several environmental groups were also plaintiffs.  The Pit River Tribe contends that development on geothermal leases will interfere with its members use of the area for spiritual and traditional cultural purposes. The Court held that plaintiffs' claims include a challenge under a provision of the Geothermal Steam Act that requires the BLM to conduct environmental, historical, and cultural review under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. Sacramento Bee reports on the decision.

Tribe Sues Over California Solar Project In Ancestral Lands

According to the Parker (AZ) Pioneer, on June 12 the Colorado River Indian Tribes filed suit in a California state court challenging the state's approval of a solar project near Blythe, Calif.  Invoking California's environmental quality act, the tribes say the the impact of the project was not adequately analyzed. This is one of ten solar projects that will cover 35,000 acres of tribal ancestral homeland.  The Parker Pioneer adds:

Historical and ancestral trails run through the land proposed for development (which lies about eight miles outside of the tribe’s reservation boundary) that were once used for physical and spiritual migration. The project site also house “burial grounds, grindstones, hammerstones, and petroglyphs” created by the tribes’ ancestors.

Pope's Encyclical On Environmental Protection Issued; Republican Presidential Candidates May Be Pressed

The Vatican this morning released Pope Francis' much anticipated Encyclical Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home, as well as a Press Guide to the lengthy document.  The Encyclical begins:

1. “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us....

2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor....

In an article earlier this week, the New York Times suggests that the Encyclical will put pressure on Catholic Republican candidates for President who have questioned scientific findings on human causes of climate change and opposed policies to tax or regulate the burning of fossil fuels. These include Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio who "have courted influential and deep-pocketed donors, such as the billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, who vehemently oppose such climate policies." Other announced or likely Catholic candidates are Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal and Chris Christie.  AP reports that, speaking to reporters yesterday, Jeb Bush said:

I go to church to have my faith nourished, to have my faith challenged.  That's why I go to Mass. I don't go to Mass for economic policy or for things in politics.