Climate Chaos in Undeniable
The Supreme Court this week narrowly rejected an attempt by the Navajo Nation to understand how much water it is has rights to, under an 1868 peace treaty with the United States. In a 5-4 split, the court threw out a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court that could have led to an accounting for water rights owed the tribe from the dwindling Colorado River and other waterways. These rights have never been adjudicated, which means they remain unmeasured and unfulfilled.
The answer to that question has critical implications for the tribe, which is severely under resourced. And it has major implications for how to divvy up the water of the Colorado River, a process currently bedeviling Western states.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority (and sidestepping the issue entirely), claimed the US government was not required to take “affirmative steps” to provide water to Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation has vowed to continue to seek answers.
While I anticipate more legal analyses on this issue in the weeks ahead, I did notice another sidestep in the decision by Kavanaugh: He almost — but not quite — acknowledged that climate change exists and is having an impact on our legal landscape. In providing context for the decision, Kavanaugh acknowledged the worsening aridity of the Western United States. “Water has long been scarce [there], and the problem is getting worse. From 2000 through 2022, the region faced the driest 23-year period in more than a century and one of the driest periods in the last 1,200 years. And the situation is expected to grow more severe in future years.” This is true, even if Kavanaugh elides the underlying cause and even as the court shows itself an impediment to climate action.
How much longer, I wonder, can our political and legal systems keep on the blinders? After all, climate change long ago left the realm of theory and has entered the real world, with real consequences. Insurance companies know the truth, for example, and are now refusing to provide policies in certain areas prone to wildfires and floods. A handful of children are forcing the issue in court in Montana. And every day we see more and more evidence of a world changed.
This week’s lack of legal acumen by the highest court in the land does not bode well for us in the short term, at a time we need smart answers about where and how we put our resources. However, in reading between the lines, I see a ray of hope: The fact that our climate is changing for the worse is becoming undeniable, even among the deniers.
Brian Calvert
Associate Editor, Earth Island Journal
Photo of Lake Powell by CEBImagery
|
