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In the $NAK #pebbleappeal, the state of Alaska and the @PebbleProject have filed briefs that work together like Reggie Miller and Detlef Schrempf.
Alaska’s brief was designed to sizzle like Reggie, and NAK/PLP’s brief was meant to get it done like Detlef. THREAD
Alaska’s brief was designed to sizzle like Reggie, and NAK/PLP’s brief was meant to get it done like Detlef. THREAD
I already did a thread on Alaska’s RFA, which was filed after $NAK but released first. https://twitter.com/wokelawyer/status/1353185939699462144
While the Alaska RFA raised juicy constitutional questions (and maybe even implied secession), $NAK hit the @AlaskaCorps’s decision where it counts. As I hoped, NAK rips into the Corps for its unprecedented weaponization of “compensatory mitigation,” among other obvious errors.
To start, the Corps announced a new—extremely low—threshold for compensatory mitigation, one that would be met whenever the project would have “more than a trivial” impact. This the opposite of the correct standard. (There must be “significant degradation.”)
$NAK explains that this view of compensatory mitigation is unprecedented in Alaska.
Even so, $NAK jumped through the hoops and put together a mitigation plan while @AlaskaCorps watched and encouraged. However, given the timing and illogic of the permit denial, $NAK correctly points out that the Corps “stacked the deck” and “had already made up its mind[.]”
![Even so, $NAK jumped through the hoops and put together a mitigation plan while @AlaskaCorps watched and encouraged. However, given the timing and illogic of the permit denial, $NAK correctly points out that the Corps “stacked the deck” and “had already made up its mind[.]”](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Esy4GyWXMAAtR9p.jpg "Even so, $NAK jumped through the hoops and put together a mitigation plan while @AlaskaCorps watched and encouraged. However, given the timing and illogic of the permit denial, $NAK correctly points out that the Corps “stacked the deck” and “had already made up its mind[.]”")
![Even so, $NAK jumped through the hoops and put together a mitigation plan while @AlaskaCorps watched and encouraged. However, given the timing and illogic of the permit denial, $NAK correctly points out that the Corps “stacked the deck” and “had already made up its mind[.]”](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Esy4GyVW8AENH20.jpg "Even so, $NAK jumped through the hoops and put together a mitigation plan while @AlaskaCorps watched and encouraged. However, given the timing and illogic of the permit denial, $NAK correctly points out that the Corps “stacked the deck” and “had already made up its mind[.]”")
There are so many other dispositive errors that $NAK does a great job of highlighting. For instance, the @AlaskaCorps gave zero weight to the “critical minerals” contained in pebble. (Remember: they said something about how there weren’t many public comments about rare earths.)
My favorite part is where $NAK calls out the @AlaskaCorps’ offensive economic justification, which people like @LisaReimers noticed immediately. If you'll remember, the Corps said @PebbleProject is bad because it will create jobs and therefore PREVENT PEOPLE FROM SHARING FOOD!
Also, $NAK is trying an interesting hook re the @AlaskaDEC’s failure to issue a state water certification prior to the ROD. According to $NAK, the certification would’ve contained information that changed the outcome of the ROD.
This is a winning brief, packed with different winning attacks. After all, the ROD was terrible. It was completely untethered from science and the FEIS. And, as shown above, that’s not even close to the biggest problem with the ROD…
The $NAK @PebbleProject is too big to fail.
The $NAK @PebbleProject is too big to fail.
