Progress Pond

the supremes just keep on giving

roberts and alito, [thanks a lot demoRATs] are again leading the conservative pack majority, with help from 2 of the liberal justices, in giving chimpy and the M/I complex everything thing they want.  

today’s ruling reverses previous federal court rulings that imposed restrictions on, and in some cases prohibited, the use of the controversial MFA sonar in training exercises in the coastal waters off southern california…home to nine threatened or endangered species of whales, dolphins, sea lions and seals…thereby setting a precedent for it’s use anywhere, any time.  the rationale? the same ol’ same ol’ buggaboo national security.

Joining Chief Justice Roberts were Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito. Justices Breyer and Stevens didn’t join the Roberts majority, but came to a similar/supporting conclusion in a separate opinion.  Justices Ginsburg and Souter dissented.

details below the fold
from bloomberg: U.S. Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on Navy Sonar

Nov. 12 –The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling that national security trumps environmental rules, lifted restrictions on the Navy’s use of sonar during training exercises off the coast of Southern California,

A divided high court rejected arguments by environmentalists that the judge-ordered restrictions were warranted to protect whales and other marine mammals.

The environmental interests “are plainly outweighed by the Navy’s need to conduct realistic training exercises to ensure that it is able to neutralize the threat posed by enemy submarines,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.

“threat posed by enemy submarines”…let that soak in a minute, then try and describe an enemy, and a scenario that actually represents a threat.  must be those pesky russians, but given the current history of their submarine forces… l doubt they’re a menace…but you never know, maybe the chinese

The case tested the power of the White House and the military to skirt federal environmental regulations in the name of national security. The Bush administration argued that courts should be deferential when the president concludes that a military exercise is essential for the country’s safety.

The ruling applies to the last of 14 training exercises designed to prepare naval strike groups for deployment in the western Pacific and Middle East.

Environmental groups led by the Natural Resources Defense Council sought to limit the Navy’s use of mid-frequency active sonar, also known as MFA sonar, which ships use to detect submarines. The environmentalists said MFA sonar has killed and injured beaked whales and other marine mammals.

Harmful Actions

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper limited the Navy’s use of MFA sonar, pointing to the National Environmental Policy Act’s requirement that government agencies prepare an environmental impact statement before taking harmful actions.

Cooper said President George W. Bush’s Council on Environmental Quality had improperly cited “emergency circumstances” as a basis for exempting the Navy from that requirement.

Cooper’s order required the Navy to take a number of steps, including shutting down MFA sonar when marine mammals are spotted within 2,200 yards and reducing sonar power by 75 percent in the presence of a water condition known as “surface ducting.”

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Cooper’s order, though it also issued a stay that temporarily relaxed the restrictions

ref: Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 07- 1239.

so once again science and environment are trumped by militaristic considerations, even as they are backhandedly acknowledged:

“We do not discount the importance of plaintiffs’ ecological, scientific and recreational interests in marine mammals. Those interests, however, are plainly outweighed by the Navy’s need to conduct realistic training exercises,” Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. wrote in the majority opinion. “We see no basis for jeopardizing national security.”

link

l suppose l should have suspected it, eh.

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