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Conversations that go deep on the environment, the climate crisis, and the solutions
Conversations that go deep on the environment, the climate crisis, and the solutions
Connect with Zyg: BC Law Faculty Page | Linkedin | Twitter
Book: The Snail Darter and the Dam: a very small endangered fish's travels through the corridors of American power
Snail Darter Case: BC Archives
Supreme Court TVA vs. Hill Oral Arguments: Audio | Transcript
Supreme Court Decision: Announcement
TEDxBeaconStreet: Little Fish Bites Dam!- "Most Extreme" Eco-Activist Case Ever?
Endangered Species Law & Policy: Calling on The "God Squad"
UN Species Extinction Report: National Geographic Article | IPBES Media Release
Lawsuits against Trump Administration rules that weaken the ESA: Earth Justice's Lawsuit | Earth Justice's Legal Complaint | Lawsuit Against Trump-Bernhardt’s Extinction Plan
Take Action: Center for Biological Diversity | Defenders of Wildlife | EarthJustice: Environmental Law | Environment America Campaign | National Wildlife Federation Action Page
Special Offer:
The first ten listeners to make a donation to the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Environment America, or the National Wildlife Foundation and to subscribe or follow the Mother Earth Podcast on Instagram and at least one of our other social media channels (Facebook or Twitter) will receive a copy of the beautiful drawing of the Snail Darter that was Exhibit 12 at trial and handed out to the Justices of the US Supreme Court at oral argument, plus a Snail Darter T-Shirt just like the original fundraiser ones (depicting TVA as Jaws). Images below. To claim your offer, please email proof of your donation to info@motherearthpod.com and provide information for us to verify that you are following us on social media. Thank you for helping to protect Mother Earth.
Original fundraiser Snail Darter T-Shirt
Exhibit 12 at trial
Marina on Tellico Reservoir, and in the background, silos of Jim and Yvonne Graham’s condemned farm. Photo via Boston College Law School
Photo of host Matt Pawa and guest Zygmunt Plater
20 years later, activist veterans of the battles that sought to block the Tellico Dam project as part of a large commemorative gathering. -- back row, from the left, Hiram "Hank" Hill, Peter Alliman, Doris Gove (she designed the tee-shirt), Jeff Mellor; -- front, Zyg Plater and international ichthyology expert Dr. David Etnier.
Lower left: Out on the Supreme Court steps after his oral argument in the snail darter case, the Attorney-General of the United States, Griffin Bell, holding up a small jar containing a dead darter and asking the surrounding media whether something so inconsequential should block a dam. The Court subsequently decided 6-3 that yes it should. Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153.
Lower right: The eco-extremist attorney for the fish and farmers of the Little Tennessee River valley trying unsuccessfully to get the reporters to scrutinize the dysfunctional factual merits of the last of 68 TVA dams. His explanations to the reporters -- and the subsequent unanimous verdict of a presidential economic review committee that the dam would destroy more value than it would create -- unfortunately were similarly ignored by the media.
