Reply #16: Supreme Court Navy Sonar Case - There is a reason for this & the world needs to question it! [View All]

[1776Forever]

High Court Hears Navy Sonar Case (Final judgment not in yet)

by Nina Totenberg

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95522316

All Things Considered, October 8, 2008 ·

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a case testing how far the president and his agencies can go in setting aside environmental laws in the name of national security — and how far the courts can go in intervening in such a controversy.

At issue is the long-running dispute over the Navy's use of mid-frequency sonar in training exercises off the California coast. Environmental advocacy groups contend that federal law requires the Navy to assess the damage that could be caused to whales and dolphins and to adopt steps to minimize that damage.

The president and his Council on Environmental Quality have gotten around that requirement by ordering environmental laws suspended in the name of a national security emergency. The federal courts, however, concluded that there was no emergency — that the military knew for years that it had a problem and ignored it.

(snip)

Kendall: Yes ... the Navy cannot be the judge of its own cause. There's a limit to deference. ... The evidence is overwhelming that beached whales are being stranded by sonar and killed. Autopsies show they are hemorrhaging and dying.

Justice Breyer: The whole purpose of the military is to hurt the environment. You go on a bombing mission — do you have to prepare an environmental impact statement?

Kendall: No, of course not in combat. But here in a training exercise, the military is supposed to minimize the damage.

.........

All in the name of WAR!