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<div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4fb42311-7e84-fa3a-611a-9abb339d283c"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: 1.656;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">oops see 2x robert</font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: 1.656;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: 1.656;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://webbrain.com/brainpage/brain/E212D5AA-EEF5-535C-9D0D-27920B094E45#-536" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" color="color" rgb="rgb" font-weight="font-weight" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" underline="underline" text-decoration-skip-ink="text-decoration-skip-ink" none="none" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Peabody Coal: vs </span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" color="color" rgb="rgb" font-weight="font-weight" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Take Back St. Louis</span></a></font></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: 1.656;"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">7/14</span><a href="https://webbrain.com/brainpage/brain/E212D5AA-EEF5-535C-9D0D-27920B094E45#-605" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" color="color" rgb="rgb" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap"> </span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" color="color" rgb="rgb" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" underline="underline" text-decoration-skip-ink="text-decoration-skip-ink" none="none" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">Missouri</span></a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" color="color" rgb="rgb" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" underline="underline" text-decoration-skip-ink="text-decoration-skip-ink" none="none" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap"> </span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">Governor Nixon signed SB 672, with Amendment 135.980 from the state legislature — where Peabody spent almost half a million dollars in the last two elections) which</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-weight="font-weight" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap"> bans the City of St. Louis from restricting through ballot initiative public financial incentives for coal mining companies for two years, basically stopping giving incentives to coal companies and help create a green economy. </span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">While the case was pending, the mayor’s office pushed a curious amendment to an obscure state bill. In the middle of a bill about county prosecutors and sewer districts, you’ll find a provision that specifically prohibits the city of St. Louis from passing, by ballot measure, any restrictions on tax breaks for coal mining companies. There’s only one coal mining company in St. Louis known to receive city tax breaks: Peabody Energy.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: 1.656;"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">This story began when ordinary citizens joined together and took a stand against both climate change and their city’s destructive practice of granting enormous tax breaks to big business while cutting funding for public services. They talked to thousands of residents who were upset that St. Louis keeps giving away tens of millions of dollars of badly needed public money to Peabody Energy (the world’s largest private-sector coal company). They collected over 22,000 signatures — more than 10 percent of all the voters in St. Louis — on a petition for a ballot initiative. The city’s elections board verified the signatures, and began preparing to print ballots. The coal company’s lawyers rushed to court and asked a judge to block the election on the grounds that the law would unfairly discriminate against the coal company and its business partners, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. At the trial, Take Back St. Louis provided evidence about the environmental damage caused by burning coal, and the damage to the fabric of St. Louis caused by the city’s penchant for giving away public dollars to big business. The other side didn’t put any witnesses on the stand.</span></p>
<span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-weight="font-weight" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">The judge also opined that the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution - which was passed after the Civil War to protect the rights of newly-freed slaves - prevents the people of St. Louis from voting on the initiative. </span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">The opinion cites the infamous Citizens United decision to suggest that coal companies have the same rights as people, which effectively means that corporate tax breaks are off-limits for voters. Before the people even had an opportunity to vote, the judge decided that fossil fuel energy companies and their major business partners are entitled to judicial protection from the democratic process. It is unusual in itself that this ruling would occur before residents even had a chance to vote on the initiative. Usually, initiatives go before voters and legal proceedings happen if the initiative passes. CA Prop 49 on corporate personhood was also pulled from the ballot, though for arguably less evil reasons.</span></span></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2014/02/13/st-louis-judge-cites-citizen-united-protect-tax-breaks-peabody-energy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.desmogblog.com/2014/02/13/st-louis-judge-cites-citizen-united-protect-tax-breaks-peabody-energy</font></a></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="new-horizontal-social-bar clearfix" style="overflow: hidden; margin: 15px 0px; letter-spacing: -0.7px;"><div class="new-horizontal-share-wrapper new-horizontal-email-wrapper clearfix last" style="width: 158.578px; float: left; margin-right: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><a href="mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20DeSmogBlog&body=https://www.desmogblog.com/2014/02/13/st-louis-judge-cites-citizen-united-protect-tax-breaks-peabody-energy%0D%0A%0D%0ASt.%20Louis%20Judge%20Cites%20Citizens%20United%20to%20Protect%20Tax%20Breaks%20for%20Peabody%20Energy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; padding: 7px 6px; display: block; position: relative; top: 1px; cursor: pointer;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="fa fa-2x fa-envelope fa-fw" aria-hidden="true" style="display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; width: 1.28571em; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;"> Share</span></font></a></div></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="print-link" /></font><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="min-height: 280px;"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the quick stroke of a pen, a circuit court judge in St. Louis has singlehandedly silenced more than 22,000 city residents, who had sought to bring a ballot initiative to end tax breaks to fossil fuel companies to a citywide vote in April.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last summer, volunteers with the <a href="http://www.takebackstlouis.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Take Back St. Louis coalition</a> gathered over 22,000 signatures to put onto the ballot a measure that would amend the city’s charter to include a “Sustainable Energy Policy” and end taxpayer-funded support of fossil fuel companies.
<a href="http://www.takebackstlouis.com/judge_dierker_sides_with_peabody" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">According to Take Back St. Louis</a>, the “proposed charter amendment would end public financial incentives, such as tax abatements, to fossil fuel mining companies and those doing $1 million of business with them per year, and requires the city to create a sustainable energy plan for renewable energy and sustainability initiatives on city-owned vacant land.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Tuesday, Judge Robert Dierker sided with <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/tags/peabody-energy" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Peabody Energy</a> (in a decision you can <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/206544694/Sustainable-Energy-Order-Feb-11-2014" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">read here</a>) to grant a temporary restraining order that would, in essence, keep the initiative off the April 8th ballot.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">First declaring the initiative “facially unconstitutional,” Judge Dierker proceeded to cite the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v.Federal_Election_Commission" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><em>Citizens United</em></a> decision in explaining why the policy would represent a “patent denial of equal protection” to fossil fuel energy companies. Specifically, Judge Dierker wrote:</font></p><blockquote style="margin: 1.5em 30px;"><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">business entities (which, after all, are a species of associations of citizens coming together in the exercise of economic freedom) are entitled to constitutional protection as citizens and may not arbitrarily be denied basic legal rights. See <em>Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm.</em>, 558 <span class="caps">U.S.</span> 310 (2010).</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The proposed initiative and judge’s decision have implications far beyond the city of St. Louis. <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/tags/peabody-energy" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Peabody Energy</a>, the largest privately-owned coal mining company in the world, is headquartered in St. Louis, and received tax breaks of over $61 million from the city in 2010. The Take Back St. Louis coalition was hoping to target future giveaways, arguing that the public funds would be much better spent on underfunded local services like schools.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>We fundamentally disagree with this temporary ruling, and quoting <em>Citizens United</em> is an insult to home rule powers and our local democracy. Saying that Peabody Energy has equal rights with St. Louis public school students who lack supplies due to corporate tax breaks is what is a violation of rights in our city,” said Reginald Rounds with the Take Back St. Louis campaign. “We, and the 22,000 registered voters in the City of St. Louis who signed to put this on the ballot, will continue to fight for our right to have a sustainable local economy, not one run by coal corporations and other polluters.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Peabody Energy’s lawyers filed the restraining order motion two weeks ago, and seem to have a sympathetic ear with Judge Dierker, who is an outspoken opponent of public interest law. In 2006, Judge Dierker authored “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/The-Tyranny-Tolerance-Sitting-Judicial/dp/030733919X" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">The Tyranny of Tolerance: A Sitting Judge Breaks the Code of Silence to Expose the Liberal Judicial Assault</a>,” a book which he promoted extensively on Fox News.
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Also providing testimony in the hearing were two representatives from the mayor’s office, who oppose the citizen-driven initiative, spotlighting what Take Back St. Louis reps call “collaboration” between the mayor’s office and Peabody.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Take Back St. Louis has vowed to fight the temporary restraining order, and the legal battle could prove a crucial precedent for how the controversial <em>Citizens United</em> ruling can be applied to local resistance against taxpayer handouts to fossil fuel companies. </font></p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above" style="padding: 1.5em 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin-top: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="field-label" style="text-transform: uppercase; display: inline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TAGS: </font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div class="field-items" style="display: inline;"><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5712" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Citizens United</a></div><div class="field-item odd" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2479" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">peabody coal</a></div><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/tags/peabody-energy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Peabody Energy</a></div><div class="field-item odd" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/662" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">coal</a></div><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/15324" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">take back st louis</a></div><div class="field-item odd" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/15325" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">st louis</a></div><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/8950" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Fossil Fuel Subsidies</a></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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