Today is full of friction as Obama and Clinton supporters go at it on the left, and the Republicans are doing the same schtick (with more gusto of course) on the right. Yet one thing we all can be happy about (or at least those of us on the left and all that care about treating animals in the sea with respect is a victory won against the Bush Administration and the Navy in the courts today.
From Yahoo News:
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled Monday that the Navy is not exempt from complying with both the National Environmental Policy Act and a court injunction that created a 12 nautical-mile no-sonar zone off Southern California.
"It's an excellent decision," said Joel Reynolds, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is spearheading the legal fight. "It reinstates the proper balance between national security and environmental protection."
Scientists have said loud sonar can damage the brains and ears of marine mammals, and may mask the echoes from natural sonar that some whales and dolphins use to locate food.
The president signed a waiver Jan. 15 exempting the Navy and its anti-submarine warfare exercises from the injunction, arguing they are vital to the nation's national security.
The White House objected to Judge Cooper's decision, but who knows how far they'll go to make sure that the brains of whales are damaged. So does George Bush hate whales and dolphins? Why would he do such a thing? Well it may not be so much about the marine life, but about his power...and the quest to rule absolutely for as long as possible. He'd rather make decisions affecting the environment instead of environmentalists from having a say. Now that would be unconscionable.
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