Bush exempts Navy from environmental law

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - President Bush exempted the Navy from an environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast — a practice critics say is harmful to whales and other marine mammals.

The White House announced Wednesday that Bush had signed the exemption Tuesday while traveling in the Middle East.

The Navy training exercises, including the use of sonar, "are in the paramount interest of the United States" and its national security, Bush said in a memorandum.

"This exemption will enable the Navy to train effectively and to certify carrier and expeditionary strike groups for deployment in support of worldwide operational and combat activities, which are essential to national security," the memo said.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/navy_sonar

[flvegan]

1. Refresh my memory...when did Bush get elected to the position of "God"?

[AikidoSoul]

26. Remember, Bush says God tells him stuff

Maybe God told him it was o.k. to make marine mammals deaf.

:mad:

[peacetalksforall]

29. Cheney got elected to the position of "God" - George just signs -.

for delusional games. Dick is the real-pres and George is titular-pretend.

[Tellurian]

2. More dead marine animals..

What a load of malarky! Bush is using this "new" high frequency sonar for oil exploration in the ocean depths. This higher tech sonar used by the Navy ruptures the ear drums of whales and porpoises not only leaving them deaf but unable to navigate their way through the ocean. Leaving them little choice other than beaching themselves until they die.

GreenPeace...where are you?

[Ghost Dog]

32. It's your Natural Resources Defense Council leading this fight.

See #7.

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonar.asp

[Javaman]

3. he* said this over his* fresh blubber breakfast. nt

[Lorien]

4. Asshole. n/t

[Mika]

5. Bush declares war on marine life.

[Barrett808]

6. So does this apply in his new "marine sanctuary" in Hawai'i?

Was that also just greenwashing?

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Just Bush putting his views above the law again. Judge just put limits on where and

how the Navy could do this on Jan. 4.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346011_orcasonar04.html

A federal judge forbade the Navy on Thursday from using a powerful form of sonar within 12 miles of the California coast and slapped other restrictions on naval war exercises in a ruling that could have repercussions in the Pacific Northwest.

"The court is persuaded that the (protection) scheme proposed by the Navy is grossly inadequate to protect marine mammals from debilitating levels of sonar exposure," Marie-Cooper wrote in her ruling.

By the Navy's own estimate, it would harass or harm marine mammals, as prohibited by the Endangered Species Act, about 170,000 times, the judge said. The Navy said the series of 14 exercises would temporarily deafen whales 8,000 times and cause permanent injuries in more than 400 cases.

Environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, brought suit as part of a campaign to rein in sonar use, which they contend violates several federal laws. They had sought a ban on naval exercises out to 25 miles from shore.


Everybody who cares should make a donation to NRDC because we'll be back in court over this!

[Magleetis]

8. He really likes

to kill things. He is Satan.

[rockybelt]

9. It's in the paramount interests of the United States

to impeach this mo%^$r fucker and get him and his boss, cheney out of office and shipped off to The Hague where they belong.

[TellTheTruth82]

10. Oh, come on...

Can't the whales read that the areas are dangerous and that they should stay out?!

[TechBear_Seattle]

11. What allows him to sign such an exemption? Was it a bill passed by Congress?

By what fiat can the president tell someone, "The law does not apply to you?" The very same fiat that * has claimed for the last 7 years and which Congress has not had the gonads to challenge?

[Bacchus39]

17. more than likely the law gives the president the power to waive env. requirements

n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

24. Ah, that would make sense. Thanks. n/t

[Ghost Dog]

33. Nope. See #18. n/t

[Bacchus39]

34. NEPA regulations

here are the regulations for a waiver under NEPA in "emergency" situations.

Sec. 1506.11 Emergencies.

"Where emergency circumstances make it necessary to take an action with significant environmental impact without observing the provisions of these regulations, the Federal agency taking the action should consult with the Council about alternative arrangements. Agencies and the Council will limit such arrangements to actions necessary to control the immediate impacts of the emergency. Other actions remain subject to NEPA review. "

The "Council" mentioned in the regulations is the Council on Environmental Quality which is an office of the president.

there may be subsequent laws that have been passed that exempt certain activities since NEPA. here is an article that names a few. Again, it may be a situation that comes down to the interpretation of "emergency" to be decided by litigation.



http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2004/08/12/griscom-defense/

"Last year, President Bush pushed through legislation that exempts military training bases from cornerstone environmental protections mandated by the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, in the name of "military readiness."

[Ghost Dog]

35. Hmmm, sure. But where's the particular sonar-related emergency in this case?

For me, the claimed all-embracing "worldwide operational and combat activities, which are essential to national security" just doesn't cut it.

ed. I mean, this has to be somehow related to potential forthcoming Persian Gulf ops, right?

[Bacchus39]

36. there is not, look for further litigation

here is what the 9th Circuit said recently about the training. I do not know if this applies to the particular training being discussed in this thread.

http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/03/editorial/editorial01.html

[LeftyMom]

12. Words can not describe how much I hate him.

[AikidoSoul]

27. He is a festering blight agains all that is good in the world N/T

[sakabatou]

13. .

[gratuitous]

14. You just know that a year from now . . .

We're going to hear endless bleating about a "nation of laws" from the craven little pukes who make up today's Republican party, and they will get a great big platform from our media pals from which to spew their ovine mewling.

[sakabatou]

15. Here is the monster (supposedly)

[The Stranger]

16. Tell the Nancy Disaster that she is enabling the destruction of wildlife off her state's shores.

What an utter, utter and total fiasco of a speaker.

[scipan]

18. NRDC says waiver is illegal

Bush Attempts Illegal Override of Court Order Protecting Whales from Sonar
Unprecedented Waiver Imperils Marine Mammals; White House Snubs California, Federal Courts and Congress

LOS ANGELES (January 16, 2008) – The Bush administration yesterday attempted to override a federal court order requiring the U.S. Navy to minimize harm to whales and dolphins during upcoming sonar exercises off Southern California. In an effort to nullify measures established to protect marine mammals from potentially lethal sound blasts, President Bush gave the Navy an unprecedented waiver under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), and allowed the Navy a second “emergency” waiver under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
...
“The President’s action is an attack on the rule of law,” said Joel Reynolds, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at NRDC, which obtained the injunction against the Navy. “By exempting the Navy from basic safeguards under both federal and state law, the President is flouting the will of Congress, the decision of the California Coastal Commission, and a ruling by the federal court.”

Both waivers must survive court review for the Navy to legally ignore the injunction. However, the waiver under NEPA is illegal, according to NRDC, because that statute does not include an escape clause for the executive branch, as some statutes do.
http://www.nrdc.org/media/2008/080116.asp

[YankeyMCC]

19. More disrespect for the law of the people from

the person who's been put into the position of 'leader' ... just un-efing-believable

[Desertrose]

20. Bastid.

I'm using this word too much lately....but its so appropriate for so many things,
*sigh*

bastid.

[Bonobo]

21. Does this mean Captain Watson will go after them?

They probably kill more dolphins and whales than the Japanese. And they are closer too! No need to waste gas, pollute the environment and endanger lives!

Oh, but that wouldn't be as fun as pretending to be a rime-coated, "at-grace with the sea" pirate.

Arrr, me hearties!

[The Stranger]

30. The thing between you and Watson sounds personal.

I don't know. Call me crazy.

[Bonobo]

31. I just don't like the "cut of his jib" shall we say.

From what I have read of him, I do not like him at all. Plus I have knee-jerk reflexive tendencies to defend the Japanese since most of my family is Japanese.

[MasonJar]

22. Bush has just won the award as the most despicable person alive!

Impeach the Bastard!

[jasmeel]

23. fucking disgusting....rate the story up for visibility

[AikidoSoul]

25. It amazes me that I can still experience stepped-up outrage that

makes the pit of my stomach get tight and sick with anger.

All that is good and beautiful is embodied in animals. God's perfect work.

H2O man wrote a piece recently about the danger of hating. As usual he was eloquent, perfectly describing what hating does to the soul of a person.

But I simply cannot separate the sin from the sinner when I see Bush and Cheney and the extreme damage they are doing to our country, the environment, the economy and our children's futures.

They represent and embody that concept of pure EVIL.

Recommend this for increased visibility so that DUers can get their full portion of anger stoked once again.

If only our collective hatred could singe those revolting assholes' hides.

[dbackjon]

28. FUCK HIM - IMPEACH NOW

That asshole is NOT above the law. He needs to be waterboarded, and detained at Gitmo for the rest of his life.

[Plucketeer]

37. Wholly CRAP!

The "Decider" decides again! Too bad we can't decide to waterboard this dolt! :grr:

[DesertRat]

38. What a prick

:grr: