Liberty
Matters News Service
September 23, 2005
ESA Should be Repealed - Not Reauthorized
On Thursday, September 22, H.R. 3824, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 (TESRA) by House Resource Committee chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) passed out of Committee with amendments. The bill was filed on Monday, heard on Wednesday and passed on Thursday. Many items in the bill described by Pombo's staff as "property rights friendly" were immediately watered down and will need to be analyzed. For instance, Mr. Pombo accepted an amendment that extended a 90-day review period to up to one year. This provision was originally designed to solve the ripeness issue for landowners by forcing the government to make a decision whether a landowner could use his property. The Chairman has put this bill on the fast track and is pushing to have it brought to the floor as early as next week. This bill is different from Pombo's first draft back in July thanks to the efforts of thousands of landowners and a coalition of over 80 organizations called Property Rights First! Earlier language that included Invasive Species and a 50% trigger for compensation was all taken out because of grassroots' efforts. However, many landowners and legal experts now pouring through the details of the new bill are finding critical problems. One of the most notable is the section entitled "Private Property Conservation" where terms such as "aid" and "grants" are proposed, but not defined leaving these and many other concepts to be flushed out during the regulatory writing process where fulltime government bureaucrats will be given the power to "fill in the blanks." Liberty Matters will provide talking points and an analysis in the very near future. Congress must get this right this time, otherwise landowners must not stand by and let them reauthorize a law that has and will destroy their property rights. This law should be repealed, not reauthorized. The amended bill should be available on the Resource Committee website later today.
Resource Committee OK's Plan to
Overhaul ESA
Blair Changes Stance on Kyoto
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair played the skunk at the Sunday school picnic by announcing during the "Clinton Global Initiative" conference in New York City this week he no longer supports the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. Blair, who as late as the Gleneagles G-8 Summit in July, was trying to convince President Bush to sign the Treaty, said "My thinking has changed in the past three or four years. No country is going to cut its growth, [by signing onto an economy-stifling treaty like Kyoto]," he continued. Kyoto expires in 2012 and Blair says, "They [Kyoto signatories] are not going to start negotiating another treaty like Kyoto." Blair said, instead, "Countries will work together to develop the science and technology [to deal with "global warming issues]." Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said future world energy policy would have to include increased use of nuclear energy. "France," she said, "generates something like 80- percent of its electricity from nuclear power." Rice acknowledged perceived "proliferation risks" from nuclear power, but, she said, "In the fast-developing world, we have to find a way to leverage all power [sources]."
Tony Blair Pulls the Plug on Kyoto
at Clinton Summit
Senate Judicial Committee Takes on Kelo
The Senate Judicial Committee began hearings this week over legislation filed to counter the Supreme Court's recent decision in Kelo v. City of New London, arguably the worst assault on liberty and private property rights this country has ever seen. Eddie A. Perez, mayor of Hartford, CT., said the ability of city governments to seize private property to give it to private developers, strengthens the "American Dream," and is of particular advantage to people of color. Perez, who represented the National League of Cities, said: "Eminent domain is a powerful economic-development tool that helps cities create jobs, grow businesses, and, most importantly, strengthen neighborhoods." Perez continued his bizarre testimony saying: "For urban American and communities of color, in particular, homeownership is the ticket to the American Dream. If Congress were to pass legislation to hamstring state and local governments from using eminent domain in some of our poorest communities, I believe that we would have fewer people becoming homeowners." Property rights advocates should not be overly concerned when governments seize homes and businesses, either, according to Perez who said; "From an owner's position, it seems to me that eminent domain ... is, in a way, the most attractive way in which to have your property rearranged." Susette Kelo, who stands to lose her home in New London, said in remarks before the Committee; "What we have now at the local, state and federal level amounts to government by the highest bidder." Mrs. Kelo and the other plaintiffs in Kelo apparently don't want their property "attractively rearranged." "None of us asked for any of this," she said. "We were simply living our lives, working, taking care of our families and paying our taxes."