Bushites Continue To Rape The Environment For Corporate Profits
Remember Bush's Clean Air Act and Healthy Forests Initiative that do the opposite of what their titles claim? Well, Bushites are still assaulting the environment and this country's natural resources.
Dubya the Shrub's administration plans to sell oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast to greedy corporate cronies that could irreparably harm polar bears and walruses and other species in their crucial habitat.
According to a report by the Associated Press via CommonDreams.org, "The Minerals Management Agency planned the sale in the Chukchi Sea without taking into account changes in the Arctic brought on by global warming and proposed insufficient protections for polar bears, walrus, whales and other species that could be harmed by drilling rigs or spills, according to the groups.
“ 'The Minerals Management Service is required to have preleasing baseline data sufficient to determine the post-leasing impacts of the oil and gas activities that will occur,'Miller said. 'They simply do not have that.'
"Miller and Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity said the MMS ignored dangers to animals and birds if an oil spill were to occur.
“ 'No one yet has figured out how to clean up a spill in broken ice, so they just stick their head in the sand and pretend it won’t happen,' Cummings said.
"He also said the agency’s environmental assessment ignored changes brought by global warming."
However, the Chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming fortunately has called a halt to this assault on the environment.
A press release issued by the Center for Biological Diversity states, "....Chairman Edward J. Markey announced he is drafting legislation to protect the polar bear from oil and gas development in the Chukchi Sea. The bill would require the Minerals Management Service to postpone a scheduled oil and gas lease sale in 46,000 square miles of polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea until after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a final listing determination for the polar bear and designated its critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act."
This is an important reprieve from the Bushite assault on the environment and its diverse species in order for Bushite corporate cronies to make billions more in profit while they continue to cause ecological and environmental disasters.
Simultaneously, in another area of the country, Bush wants to destroy whales and other marine mammals using the false excuse of national security.
A federal judge issued an order that the Navy must protect whales from its harmful sonar exercises off the coast of Southern California.
A Natural Resources Defense Council press release reported, "A federal judge this afternoon temporarily stayed part of her own injunction requiring the Navy to protect whales from high-intensity sonar during upcoming training exercises in Southern California waters.
Dubya the Shrub's administration plans to sell oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast to greedy corporate cronies that could irreparably harm polar bears and walruses and other species in their crucial habitat.
According to a report by the Associated Press via CommonDreams.org, "The Minerals Management Agency planned the sale in the Chukchi Sea without taking into account changes in the Arctic brought on by global warming and proposed insufficient protections for polar bears, walrus, whales and other species that could be harmed by drilling rigs or spills, according to the groups.
"The lease sale in an area slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania was planned without information as basic as the polar bear and walrus populations, said Pamela A. Miller, Arctic coordinator with Northern Alaska Environmental Center. The lease sale is among the largest acreage offered in the Alaska region.
“ 'The Minerals Management Service is required to have preleasing baseline data sufficient to determine the post-leasing impacts of the oil and gas activities that will occur,'Miller said. 'They simply do not have that.'
"Miller and Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity said the MMS ignored dangers to animals and birds if an oil spill were to occur.
“ 'No one yet has figured out how to clean up a spill in broken ice, so they just stick their head in the sand and pretend it won’t happen,' Cummings said.
"He also said the agency’s environmental assessment ignored changes brought by global warming."
However, the Chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming fortunately has called a halt to this assault on the environment.
A press release issued by the Center for Biological Diversity states, "....Chairman Edward J. Markey announced he is drafting legislation to protect the polar bear from oil and gas development in the Chukchi Sea. The bill would require the Minerals Management Service to postpone a scheduled oil and gas lease sale in 46,000 square miles of polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea until after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a final listing determination for the polar bear and designated its critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act."
This is an important reprieve from the Bushite assault on the environment and its diverse species in order for Bushite corporate cronies to make billions more in profit while they continue to cause ecological and environmental disasters.
Simultaneously, in another area of the country, Bush wants to destroy whales and other marine mammals using the false excuse of national security.
A federal judge issued an order that the Navy must protect whales from its harmful sonar exercises off the coast of Southern California.
A Natural Resources Defense Council press release reported, "A federal judge this afternoon temporarily stayed part of her own injunction requiring the Navy to protect whales from high-intensity sonar during upcoming training exercises in Southern California waters.
"The two-page order by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper keeps most of her original injunction intact, including a 12-nautical-mile no-sonar buffer zone along the coast, a no-sonar zone between Catalina and San Clemente islands, additional monitoring for marine mammals during exercises and additional training for monitors.
"The order temporarily lifts a requirement for the Navy to shut off sonar if marine mammals are detected within 2,000 meters of a sonar source, and the requirement to shut off sonar during surface ducting conditions, which allow sound to travel underwater a greater distance than it normally would."
How did Bush and his administration react to this judge's orders? Bush issued a presidential directive exempting the Navy from obeying environmental law by citing national security, what else!
From the LA Times, "In a memo justifying his action, Bush did not address environmental concerns. He said his decision would 'enable the Navy to train effectively' for activities 'which are essential to national security' and 'in the paramount interest of the United States.' "
"The president's directive was designed to short-circuit a long-running battle in which environmental groups have won court victories that frustrated the Navy's preparations for nine training missions over the next year, the first one set to begin next week."
As a New York Times editorial surmises, "From our perspective this looks less like a matter of national security than of convenience for the Navy, which resists efforts to constrain its activities no matter the harm to marine life."
King George the Lesser and the Republican Bushite courtiers have been a disaster for this country and a catastrophe for its environment and natural resources. Their motto was, is, and always will be, "Profits before people." Like Louis XV, who supposedly said, "After me, the deluge," Georgie and the Republican Bushites don't give a damn about this country, its natural resources, or its people.
How did Bush and his administration react to this judge's orders? Bush issued a presidential directive exempting the Navy from obeying environmental law by citing national security, what else!
From the LA Times, "In a memo justifying his action, Bush did not address environmental concerns. He said his decision would 'enable the Navy to train effectively' for activities 'which are essential to national security' and 'in the paramount interest of the United States.' "
"The president's directive was designed to short-circuit a long-running battle in which environmental groups have won court victories that frustrated the Navy's preparations for nine training missions over the next year, the first one set to begin next week."
As a New York Times editorial surmises, "From our perspective this looks less like a matter of national security than of convenience for the Navy, which resists efforts to constrain its activities no matter the harm to marine life."
King George the Lesser and the Republican Bushite courtiers have been a disaster for this country and a catastrophe for its environment and natural resources. Their motto was, is, and always will be, "Profits before people." Like Louis XV, who supposedly said, "After me, the deluge," Georgie and the Republican Bushites don't give a damn about this country, its natural resources, or its people.
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