In one more instance of unilateral I-am-the-decider-ism in which George W. Bush knows better than everyone and presidential power is deemed to trump all others, Bush has declared the Navy sonar exercises off the California to be….let’s see if you can guess…. a matter of national security.
Here’s the background: A coalition of environmentalists had previously sued to limit the Navy’s use of loud, mid-frequency sonar, which can be harmful to whales and other marine mammals. The federal court sided with the pesky whale huggers and sent the issue to U.S. District Judge Marie Florence-Marie Cooper, who ruled this month that the Navy’s proposed plan to limit harm to whales — especially deep-diving beaked whales that have at times stranded and died after sonar exercises — were “grossly inadequate to protect marine mammals from debilitating levels of sonar exposure.”
In her ruling, Cooper didn’t shut down the exercises
but said the Navy must take certain precautions such as:
# To create a 12-nautical-mile no-sonar zone along the coast.
# Have trained lookouts watch for marine mammals starting 60 minutes before and then during exercises.
# Shut down sonar when mammals are spotted within 2,200 yards.
Cooper also barred the Navy from employing sonar in the Catalina Basin, an area that is home to what she called “a high density of marine mammals.” This area extends from Santa Catalina Island south to San Clemente Island.
This morning’s Washington Post explains more:
The Navy had received a federal exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act for the exercises, which are scheduled to continue through January 2009, but the NRDC and other groups filed suit under other environmental laws. The Navy will still have to convince federal judges that the exemptions are legal. The NRDC said yesterday that waivers are not allowed under the National Environmental Protection Act.
The NRDC also said the situation does not constitute an emergency, because the Navy is allowed to continue sonar training under Cooper’s ruling.
“The president’s action is an attack on the rule of law,” said Reynolds, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the 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.”
Interestingly, according to the LA Times, Cooper used the Navy’s research on the effects of sonar on marine life to make her decision:
Citing the Navy’s own studies, she concluded that upcoming exercises off Southern California “will cause widespread harm to nearly 30 species of marine mammals, including five species of endangered whales and may cause permanent injury and death.
So, there you have it: Waterboarding….the shredding of Habeas Corpus….and now a bunch of dead whales. All packaged as the price of freedom.
Oh, screw this. Celeste, now you’re sinking into “National Enquirer” level of journalism. Next, you’ll say that we are waterboarding the whales. I can see you writing the headlinies in 1945: “Truman Drops A-Bomb on Bird Habitat.”
That’s actually pretty funny, Woody.
Hey, listen, anybody who messes with the bears, the wolves or the whales is going to really put me in a bad mood.
I hate Bush but I’m afraid this is a bad rap. I think ANY president would have done this.
Eagles. Don’t forget eagles, Celeste.
As long as we’re talking about the animals, let me recommend the series of BBC documentaries about plant and animal life featuring David Attenbourough: Life of Mammals, Planet Earth, Blue Planet, etc. The cameras and camera work are fantastic and the information value puts March of the Penguins to shame. Check ’em out. You won’t be sorry.
This site is put together well!
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