Some broke off to enter congressional offices or the U.S. Capitol building.
The clinic regularly represents the residents of communities in LouisianasCancer Alleyagainst the fossil fuel industry.
Our clients are ground zero in this case, she says.
A train in Moab, Utah, bringing empty rail cars to a mine to be filled with potash and saltJon G. Fuller/VWPics/AP Images
This small majority Black and Hispanic community is perched on the Gulf Coast at the Louisiana border.
Beard is in his sixties and has lived in Port Arthur his entire life.
This past Saturday, Etta buried her husband, Beard says.
Hebert also lost her mother and her previous husband to cancer.
Thats just one family and just one of the many ailments plaguing his community.
We are a sacrifice zone, Beard says, anger rising in his voice.
The last thing he wants for his community is more oil coming their way.
When Doves Cry
The U.S. Supreme Court is an intimidating place.
This makes the relative intimacy of the courtroom somewhat disorienting to experience.
I quickly noted the glaring vacancy of the empty chair to her right.
Just days earlier, Justice Gorsuchrecused himselffrom the case.
Anschutz has anet worthof nearly $17 billion and has been named both Americasgreediest executiveand its most reclusive billionaire.
Gorsuch has also been partners in a limited-liability company with two of Anschutzs top lieutenants.
I learned about Louisiana Governor Jeff Landrys proclivity for gathering conservatives together for an annual alligator hunt.
This month, I am now reporting on dove-hunting.
The dove hunt is apparently considered a rite of passage for politicians and others hoping to curry Anschutzs favor.
During oral arguments, it was the women who dominated the questions and discussion emanating from the bench.
He envisions a quintupling of overall oil production in the remote Uinta Basin, creating a new colossal oilfrackinghub.
But in those areas where fracking is already underway, residents have paid a steep price.
The Uinta Basin oil is described as waxy oil due to its uniquely thick viscosity.
The refineries are already at capacity and are a source of the extreme air pollution suffocating the citys residents.
On December 4, Salt Lake City had theworst air qualityof any major city in the nation.
Dr. Moench prefers to speak citing statistics and technical analyses.
But when describing the public health emergency enveloping his state, he becomes uniquely animated.
It just boggles the mind!
If the Ebola virus or Covid was killing 8,000 people a year, youd consider it an emergency.
Theyre just as dead from air pollution as they are from other causes.
From there, the oil would move through Utah, Colorado, and across Texas and Louisiana.
Finley estimated 3,000 new rail cars would carry the oil every day out of the basin.
It was not a unanimous decision.
It is treacherous, oftentimes remote, and prone to flooding, fire, and rock slides.
As in the nation as a whole, train derailments occur with frequency in Colorado.
The Federal Railroad Administrationreports665 accidents, including 62 derailments in Colorado, from 2019 to 2023.
The train passes through the heart of several small mountain towns, including Glenwood Springs.
Ingrid Wussow, a sixth generation local, has been Mayor of Glenwood Springs since 2020.
It listed nine refineries likely to receive the oil, including seven in the Gulf Coast.
Nonetheless, it approved the project.
In August 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
Circuit ruled in their favor, rejecting the Boards analysis and sending it back for further review.
Seven County Infrastructure Coalition appealed the D.C. courts ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The doctrine had instructed courts to generally show deference to how federal agencies implement and enforce the law.
Clement now stood once again in the high court ready to address the justices.
For investors, time is money, he declared.
You want us to create rules, she said.
William Willy Jay, representing Eagle County, Colorado, et.
The question is not if, but how much weaker NEPA may become.
Climate is among the many issues at risk.
Climate is the elephant in the room in this case, Sankar says.
If theres anything that Paul Clement would like NEPA to exclude, its considerations of the climate.
The impacts of sweeping away or weakening NEPA would be profound, she says.
Critics contend that the project, estimated to cost approximately$3 billion,also lacks dedicated financing.
Nonetheless, Heaton remains optimistic.
Hes committed to completing the rail in the next four years, before the political winds can shift.
Because we have the Supreme Court working in our favor as well.
End of the Line
Louisiana would be the end of the line on the Uinta Railway project.
The last thing we need is extra.
We dont need Marathon to do more, Taylor tells me.
I want them to understand that we are real humans.
Were your mom, were your sister, were your children.
Were dying because we live here.
They need to see us as they look at themselves.
