Confrontation imminent as Nez Perce vow to stop megaload

The Idaho Department of Transportation and Omega Morgan are defying the U.S. Forest Service's jurisdiction over moving megaloads along Highway 12.

A showdown has been anticipated since the Idaho Transportation Department officials granted a permit to Oregon-based Omega Morgan to move a 225 foot long and 21 foot wide water purification unit over the objections of the Nez Perce tribe and the U.S. Forest Service. The issue grew heated as the shipper announced plans to start moving the load last night.

LINK (via: The Spokesman-Review)

Fighting Goliath

One of the big concerns of those opposing megaloads on Highway 12 was that the end result would be a permanent high load industrial corridor along one of the nations most scenic byways.

Now Weyerhauser wants to be next in line to haul giant equipment across U.S. Highway 12.

LINK (Via: The Boise Weekly)

In 2009 a report by megaload hauler Mammoet Transportation said opening a "high-load corridor" from Lewiston to Alberta, Canada would be a "game changer for Alberta's oil sands developers.

For a well balanced analysis of the megaloads issue read Alex Sakariassen's piece in the Missoula Independent.

Send Lawyers Guns and Money

The fight against the megaloads is heading to Federal District Court.

An environmental group wants a federal judge to step in and block plans to haul dozens of oversized truckloads of oil refinery equipment along a northern Idaho highway and federally protected river corridor.

Idaho Rivers United filed its complaint Thursday in U.S. District Court in Boise against the U.S. Forest Service, alleging the agency neglected its duty and federal laws by allowing Idaho officials to give ExxonMobil Corp. permits to haul the giant loads along U.S. Highway 12.

LINK

Here is a link to the Idaho Rivers United Press Release.

But in the end the monster's heart collapsed and imploded

Grist Magazine's Erik Hoffner interviews Davd James Duncan regarding The Heart of the Monster, the book he wrote along with Rick Bass in response to the megaload issue.

What is it about "the haul" that most concerns you?

This mega-industrial tentacle, benefiting almost no one but Big Oil, would potentially connect the Alberta Tar Sands -- the largest single greenhouse gas-spewing project in world history -- to the industrial nations of the Pacific Rim (Korea, Vietnam, China, etc.). It would do so via some of the most beautiful highways, tortuous mountain passes, protected wildernesses, green and recreational economies, and stunning wild and scenic rivers in the world. It would cross the lands of three sovereign Indian tribes against the will of those tribes. It would further endanger the Interior West's salmon. It would disgrace the Nez Perce "trail of tears" -- the path Chief Joseph and his people took, leading to the slaughter at the Big Hole Battlefield. And if the tar sands are fully developed, says NASA climatologist James Hansen, climate chaos will be virtually unavoidable. All this for the benefit of Big Oil.

LINK (Via: Grist)

Duncan and Rick Bass will also be part of a call on Tuesday, March 1 at 5:00 pm MST to discuss "the haul," the tar sands, and the grassroots opposition. Folks are invited to join and ask them their own questions about this issue.

All Against the Haul is leading the fight against these big oil megaloads.

The Heart of the Monster

David James Duncan and Rick Bass have teamed up with photographer Frederic Ohringer to publish a new advocacy book, The Heart of the Monster: Why the Pacific Northwest & Northern Rockies Must Not Become an ExxonMobil Conduit to the Alberta Tar Sands. Proceeds from the book will go to All Against the Haul, a group that works to prevent the construction of a permanent industrial corridor on rural roads in the Northwest and Northern Rockies, stretching to the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada.

The book is only available at independent book sellers or on the All Against the Haul website.

LINK (Via: Northwest Book Lovers) 

The story behind the Duncan Bass collaboration.