Liberty Matters News Service
April 10, 2001
On April 5th,
US District Judge Edward Lodge said there was “strong evidence” that
the rulemaking process the US Forest Service pursued to implement the
Clinton Administrations sweeping roadless policy violated the National
Environmental Policy Act. Lodge said the process was hurried and that the Forest
Service did not produce a “coherent proposal or meaningful dialog and
that the end result was predetermined.” The roadless plan put 58
million acres of forestlands nationwide off limits to logging, road
building projects and other multiple uses of the land.
The state of Idaho challenged the policy claiming the Forest
Service did not allow for meaningful public comment.
The Forest Service had allowed only a two month comment period on
a document 700 pages long that involved 2% of the US land mass. Lodge
however, did not block the plan as requested by the state, saying he
would decide that issue after reviewing the Bush administration’s
status report due on May 4th.
The Bush administration has delayed implementation of the plan
until May 12th in order to decide what position they will
take on policy.
Judge Rebukes
Roadless Plan Process
Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently stated that the current energy
shortages are having a negative effect on the US economy and advocated
conservation efforts and development of new energy sources.
He remarked that not only does the nation need to build more
power plants, but must also secure domestic sources of coal, nuclear and
other fuels to support them. “I
can’t say that we have a crisis,” he stated in response to questions
raised by the Senate Energy Committee Chairman, Frank Murkowski (R-AK),
but the shortages “emerged as a very significant question.”
Greenspan
Echoes Bush's Strategies
General Motors
Corporation Chairman, Jack Smith, is actively working to polish his
image as a pro-environment leader by aligning his company with
environmental groups, notably, The Nature Conservancy.
Smith believes he and GM can help make the Earth a better place
by minimizing man’s impact on the environment and because it is
“morally correct.”
Mr. Smith serves as
chairman of The Nature Conservancy’s “Campaign for the Last Great
Places.” In an effort to gain more exposure of his active role as a
“green” proponent, last week Mr. Smith held a press conference to
showcase his gifts to The Nature Conservancy. General Motors very generously provided TNC with a Chevrolet
Silverado pickup and $50,000 so the workers can keep on truckin’ to
“monitor rare species and control invasive species,” in western
Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
GM has courted the
environmental movement for some time.
A few years ago the company donated $1 million a year for five
years to The Nature Conservancy and there is now talk that the auto
company has plans to expand its support, in a big way, by donating
enough money to “underwrite
preservation of a chunk of the South American rain forest, “the size
of Boston.”
In more Nature
Conservancy news, TNC is suing the Southern Land Co. for trespassing on
a private nature preserve and destroying leafy prairie-clover plants and
their habitats.
The company
admits the accident and officials say they have been trying to settle
out of court with TNC since the incident occurred in 1998.
TNC people say they believe a lawsuit is the only course left.
The Conservancy has not revealed exactly what damages they are
seeking.
Ford
Tussles With GM Over Greenie Points
Builder Sued
for Damage to Rare Plant
The rules to be scrutinized include regulations imposing stricter energy standards for air conditioners and removing the restrictions placed upon snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park.
President Bush
placed a 60-day moratorium on the offending rules as soon as he took
office. Under the Congressional Review Act of 1996, Congress has 60
legislative days to look at the regulations and the lawmakers do not
have to go through lengthy rulemaking if they want to change previous
policies.
Bush’s refusal to
regulate carbon dioxide levels and the withdrawal of strict federal
standards for arsenic in drinking water have made environmentalists and
the liberal press absolutely faint.
The New York
Times warns that Republicans are in danger of self-destructing by
tampering with “environmental values that command public support.”
The Sierra Club is trying to drum up opposition to the
administration’s actions with a two-month radio campaign emphasizing
the perception that carbon dioxide causes “global warming.”
Regulations:
GOP Sets Sights on Clinton Rules
President Bush has
made several natural resources-related appointments in the last few
days. Bush will nominate
Cheyenne, Wyoming attorney Tom Sansonetti for assistant attorney general
for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of
Justice. Sansonetti, a
former solicitor for the Interior Department and chief of staff for Rep.
Craig Thomas (R-WY), led the Bush administration’s transition for the
Department of Justice agency. He
is a partner with the law firm of Holland and Hart in Cheyenne, WY and
was solicitor of Interior under former President Bush.
If he accepts and is confirmed, Sansonetti will be the lead
attorney for the Interior, Agriculture and Energy departments and for
the U.S. EPA.
Patricia Lynn
Scarlett was nominated to be assistant secretary of Interior for policy,
management and budget. Environmentalist
criticize Scarlett at pro-industry, but is being heralded by several
private property rights advocates as being good for the environment and
people who use federal lands. Scarlett
is president and CEO of the conservative Reason Foundation in Los
Angeles, which publishes Reason Magazine and has oversight of the
market-oriented think tank Reason Public Policy Institute.
William Myers III
was nominated as solicitor of the Interior Department.
He was the executive director of the Public Lands Council and
also works for the law firm of Holland and Hart in Boise, Idaho.
Many property rights groups are “cautiously optimistic” about the appointments, while environmental groups have criticized Bush saying is shows a “continued pattern of appointments of friends of industries with a financial stake in publicly owned resources.”