Killing the filibuster may kill our endangered animals

[ginnyinWI]

One of the judges the Repubs want to put in believes that the Endangered Species Act is unconstitutional! Our environment is the thing most in danger if the repubs get their way, and the thing least able to be repaired later.

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“This is the most important thing I’ve ever worked on.” Senator Harry Reid speaks to a rally on April 6 where a coalition that includes the Sierra Club presented him with more than a million petition signatures opposing the nuclear option.

Under the present rules of the Senate, a filibuster can only be stopped after rounding up 60 votes to end debate. This makes the filibuster the last hope for the minority to influence Senate activity. By engaging in parliamentary maneuvering, the majority leadership may have the use of filibusters against judicial nominees declared unconstitutional by the Senate’s presiding officer (most likely Vice President Dick Cheney). Any appeal of this ruling could be defeated with a simple majority of 51 votes. From that point forward, judicial nominees could be confirmed with a simple majority—and without risk of filibuster. This would give the Bush administration a free hand to put whomever it wants on the federal bench.

The Sierra Club has good reason to be concerned.
Consider Exhibit A: William Myers, recently re-nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after being rejected by the Senate in 2004. Myers has a long record of working against the environment, notably as an attorney and lobbyist for the mining, timber, and grazing industries. Myers has argued that Endangered Species Act regulations are unconstitutional and that wetlands are not protected under the Clean Water Act. David Bookbinder, a senior Sierra Club attorney in the Environmental Law Program’s Washington, D.C., office, put a Myers appointment in perspective: “The federal courts are becoming more important to our work. Because federal judgeships are lifetime appointments, someone like Myers could affect environmental policy for decades.” >>>

www.sierraclub.org