The Beep Blue Sea

Bush exempts Navy from environmental law in ongoing sonar saga

Posted at 7:59 AM on 16 Jan 2008

President Bush fired another salvo in the ongoing fight pitting the U.S. Navy's use of mid-frequency sonar against whales and other marine mammals that can be harmed by it. Bush yesterday exempted the Navy from parts of the Coastal Zone Management Act that a federal judge recently found the Navy was violating when it used the powerful sonar off the California coast. That judge had ordered the Navy to adopt a number of safety measures to protect sensitive marine mammals during sonar exercises, but with Bush's pass, it's unclear what parts, if any, of the rules the Navy will now have to follow. In the memo issuing the exemption, Bush wrote that complying with the CZMA "would undermine the Navy's ability to conduct realistic training exercises that are necessary to ensure the combat effectiveness of carrier and expeditionary strike groups. This exemption will enable the Navy to train effectively ... in support of worldwide operational and combat activities, which are essential to national security."

source: Associated Press
straight to the memo: Presidential Exemption from the Coastal Zone Management Act

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Comments: (9 comments)

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Disappointment, but not surprise...

...now all we can hope for is that the new administration will see the situation differently.

by Tasermons Partner at 9:41 AM on 16 Jan 2008

"all we can hope"?

Well, the NRDC is appealing W.'s exemption, according to the report; their lawyer says that this is yet another example of an overweaning extention of executive power to the contempt of the legislature and the judiciary. But the Bushies have got away with that sort of thing in the past, haven't they, especially when it comes to matters of defense and national security. So why should this case be any different?

Presumably this is playing out in a predictable way on right-wing talk radio. But lest anyone try to argue that the connexion between the Navy's sonar and serious damage to cetaceans has not been proved, it must be pointed out that the circumstantial evidence is too abundant to be ignored. For starters, this article from last summer:

http://animals.about.com/b/2007/07/30/new-sonar-threatens ...

In this writer's catalogue of sonar-related strandings, it should be assumed that the animals died as a result. The episode in the Canary Islands in the summer of 2002 was especially frightening: the whales shot to the surface so quickly that they got the bends, and the Spanish Navy, who were leading that exercise, called it off at once.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 10:38 AM on 16 Jan 2008

the navy's role in our future

Read "Blue Frontier" there's a section on the Navy. Nothing will stand in their way they are preparing for the last world war. Interesting thought.

by cbloom at 11:27 AM on 16 Jan 2008

Bush - bad for the - well everyone really!

Bush - every short - sighted! I hope the new President will be more educated about the world we live in!

Also I heard that the Bush administration allowed "canned hurting" to be legal, - if anyone has facts on this please let me know.

Thank you

I only have this one life, so I am going to try my very best to make a positive change. --- The Happy & Healthy Vegan ---

by javaearth at 1:23 PM on 16 Jan 2008

Darth Vader And His Military Strike Again

"Nuff said.

by Wolverine at 1:56 PM on 16 Jan 2008

Scary

I find it most alarming that Dubya gets almost no flak anymore for doing whatever the hell he wants. He overturns judgements, ignores the requests of his citizens, laughs at international treaties... his hubris is astounding to me.

As I understand it, his powers as Commander in Chief extend only to wartime decisions. With whom are we at war in the Pacific?

Further, the Pacific Ocean is THE BIGGEST place on earth! Surely there are more than enough places to play sonar tag where there aren't any whales? Or have these endangered species blanketed the oceans in new numbers since the last census?

If you continue to do what you've always done you'll continue to get what you've always got. - Yogi Berra

by Matt at 5:55 AM on 17 Jan 2008

Navy sonar exercises.

Why do these Navy exercises have to be done where almost extinct animals are? Is the Pacific not big enough to find a practise place where there are no sea mammals that can be killed.

by Knaag59 at 9:29 AM on 17 Jan 2008

Not surprising

The Bush Administration hasn't had much of a problem sending it's armies to kill people. Why should we think he'd think twice about killing defenseless animals?

Bush is looking for a legacy. Attacking other sovereign nations without provocation, capturing and torturing foreign and native citizens, illegal wiretapping, violations of federal and international law.....I dunno, I think his dancecard is already pretty full.

To Matt above....
That's the beauty of the "war on terror". By not applying it to anyone or anything in particular, they get to apply it to everybody and everything.

by rong at 12:43 PM on 17 Jan 2008

can you spell idiot?

I spell it George Bush.

by tismeinaz at 3:23 PM on 18 Jan 2008

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