U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled in favor of developer Phil Tagami Tuesday, saying that Oakland city officials “breached” their contract when they enacted a ban on shipping coal from the city’s ports. The ban was put in at the end of June 2016 with a unanimous vote by the Oakland City Council. SF Gate reports:
Chhabria said there was insufficient evidence to support the City Council’s contention that coal operations “pose a substantial danger to people in Oakland.”
“In fact, the record is riddled with inaccuracies, major evidentiary gaps, erroneous assumptions, and faulty analyses, to the point that no reliable conclusion about health or safety dangers could be drawn from it,” he wrote.
“Perhaps a more thorough investigation could result in a lawful determination that coal operations may be restricted at the facility, but in this case, the record was inadequate.”
Activists will have to get back up and begin the fight once again. The only thing at stake is our planet.