Wednesday, 17 Dec 2003

Task Force Majeure

Cheney Gets Another Try, States Fight Back on Mercury, and More

Will the world ever know what happened behind the closed doors of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force? That's up to the Supreme Court, which agreed this week to hear the veep's appeal of a decision by a lower court -- more than one court, actually -- that he needs to pony up secret documents about the task force's participants and dealings. This week's Muckraker looks at the origins and likely outcomes of the lawsuit against Cheney and talks to the organizations (one on the right, one on the left) that filed it. Also in Muckraker, states fight back on mercury pollution, and archconservatives take on liberal giving practices -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Judge to Bush: Are You Yellowstoned?

Federal Judge Reinstates Clinton Snowmobile Ban in Yellowstone

In a sharply worded ruling issued just hours before the start of the winter snowmobiling season in Yellowstone National Park, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan nixed the Bush administration's plans to allow nearly 1,000 snowmobiles in the park every day. The 49-page ruling pointed out that a Clinton administration plan, which would have phased out snowmobiles over three years and banned them completely this winter, was based on a decade's worth of studies, while the new plan was based on an environmental impact statement "conspicuously timed with the change in administrations" and "completely politically driven and result oriented." Under Sullivan's ruling, limited snowmobiling will be allowed in the park this winter and none next winter. National Park Service employees expressed relief at the ruling. Yeah. Us too.

Oh, You Meant Clean

Bush Administration Scraps Proposed Changes to Clean Water Act

In another policy turnaround, the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers jointly announced yesterday that they will not move forward with proposed changes to the Clean Water Act that would have sharply reduced the number of waterways and wetlands protected from development. The proposed rules, based on a creative interpretation of a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, were strongly supported by the construction industry, but opposed by just about everybody else, including enviros, hunters, anglers, and many public officials. Environmental groups remain concerned that a directive issued to EPA and Army Corps staffs in January -- which could remove federal protection from up to 20 million acres of wetlands if implemented -- has not yet been rescinded. Still, the National Wildlife Federation's Julie Sibbing spoke for many when she said, "I have to admit this was a real positive development and a win for wetlands and wildlife."

May the Enforcement Be With You

EPA Enforcement Officials Removed From Homeland Security Duty

But wait, there's more! The Bush administration abruptly changed tack on yet another issue this week, when it announced that it will stop diverting federal environmental enforcement officials from pollution investigations to homeland security matters. The U.S. EPA will also stop using enforcement officials as bodyguards, chauffeurs, and errand-runners for the EPA administrator during national and overseas travel. The practice of diverting enforcement officials coincided with a notable drop in the number of cases the EPA referred to the Justice Department for prosecution. J.P. Suarez, who heads enforcement at the EPA, had earlier strongly defended the practice; this week, he called it "excessive" and said that returning officials to their regular duties would aid the division's "core mission of investigating environmental crimes."

We Love to Fly and It Shows

Britain Mulls Ways to Limit Impact of Aviation Industry

With the holidays looming, the airports and skies are fuller than ever -- unfortunately for the environment. Air travel is the most environmentally damaging way to get around, with planes using vast quantities of fossil fuels and emitting toxic byproducts and greenhouse gases. The issue is looming large on the radar screen in Britain, where the government just released a white paper on the future of aviation. Environmentalists were disappointed by the contents of the paper, which they say failed to adequately address the problems of pollution, airport expansion, and greenhouse gas emissions. With air travel growing at 3 to 5 percent per year, the impact of aviation on the U.K.'s carbon dioxide emissions will double -- or more -- by 2020, according to Friends of the Earth. FOE and others want Britain to tax the aviation industry for its fuel use to encourage the development of more efficient planes.