Liberty
Matters News Service
September 22, 2006
Landowners Want Secret Contract
Over 175 landowners filed Open Records Requests with the Texas Department of Transportation demanding the state agency release 200 pages they have kept from the public for over a year. In 2005, the state Attorney General, Greg Abbott, ruled the signed contract between the Spanish corporation Cintra-Zachry and TxDoT to construct the Trans Texas Corridor, a 1,200 foot wide, 4,000 mile long, 146 acres per mile super highway was a final contract and could not be withheld from the public. Within 10 days, both Cintra and TxDoT sued to keep part of the contract secret because it is believed to contain information that shows where the road is to be built. A trial is set for October 10, and hopefully, landowners will be able to participate in the case if they get denied their open records request exposing the shady deal for all to see. According to the EIS, nearly one million Texans will lose their land if the deal goes through. The I-35 segment of the Trans Texas Corridor is the Texas portion of the NAFTA Superhighway, which TxDoT denies. But landowners believe the withheld information could expose plans for the entire superhighway.
Environmentalism Is a Killer
Eat your organic spinach and get e-coli. This week's deadly outbreak of the disease has been attributed to a California company that brags that its product is safer and more environmentally friendly because it uses no petroleum-based pesticides. It does use "pelletized bat and bird guano" and chicken manure, though, which can harbor dangerous bacteria such as e-coli. A recent article in Investor's Business Daily states: "EPA studies show no health damage from trace consumption of pesticides in produce. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fruit and vegetables are responsible for more large-scale outbreaks of food-borne illnesses than meat, poultry and eggs. Thanks to the green lobby, consumers have been talked into thinking more expensive organic is safer and healthier." The green lobby is also killing thousands of wild birds and animals through their lawsuits to stop forest management. "Rather than protecting forests and wildlife with lawsuits, activists condemn them to destruction. Massive wildfires move so fast that flames can overtake animals like deer [and] bears before they [can] escape. Streams boil and fish die. Ash fills burrows and suffocates ground dwellers. Smoke inhalation kills most animals before the flames reach them. Lawsuits are not the answer to our forests' problems. Active forest management is the only way to protect lives and property, and conserve the forests and wildlife we cherish." Over 8 million acres of forests have burned so far this year, a tragic record.
When Spinach Is Bad For You
Dooming Woods and Wildlife
Judge Rules Boaters Have Limits
A recent ruling by U. S. District Judge Robert G. James says that the public does not have a federal common law right to fish or hunt above the low water mark on a navigable body of water. The ruling overturns a lower court ruling in part, in which Magistrate Judge James D. Kirk ruled that a federal common law right of navigation exists "which includes the right to reasonably use the Mississippi's waters for the purposes, among other things, of navigation including travel and transportation, commerce, boating, sailing and fishing and hunting from boats, and these activities are allowed up to the mean high water mark." Erroneous reports have been floating about that indicate Judge James' ruling means pleasure boating is now illegal on every navigable river across the nation. That is untrue. In Normal Parm, v Sheriff Mark Shumate, Judge James ruled that hunting and fishing are not permitted on flooded side channels of the Mississippi river because "these activities are not incidental to the navigable character of the river and its enjoyment as an avenue of commerce." Sportsman groups fear it could negatively impact the ability of hunters and fishermen to enjoy their sports and narrows the rights of Americans to use public waters. The case is expected to be appealed.
Court Ruling Limits Recreational
Rights on Rivers
Fireworks May Just Be Starting
Lawsuit threats from a California environmental group called the San Diego Coastkeeper have caused SeaWorld to cease its fireworks show, a show that has been entertaining thousands for years. The group claims that residue from the fireworks is polluting the waters of Mission Bay despite scientific reports to the contrary. The suit demands that SeaWorld apply for a Waste Discharge Permit from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (CRWQCB), although the agency has never required one. "SeaWorld fireworks do not pollute the bay," commented Dave Koontz, SeaWorld spokesman. "We're in complete compliance with [all] regulations and permitting requirements." When asked for scientific proof of their allegations, Coastkeeper's lawyer, Marco Gonzalez came up empty. "I guess that's kind of a funny question. Is there any scientific evidence that people walking along the shoreline of Fiesta Island can see trash, which clearly has residue of exploded fireworks going into the bay," was his answer. There is science that says the fireworks aren't harmful, however. In a study of the after effects of fireworks Dr. Robertus Vichmann of the Braunschweig Technical University in Germany, concluded: "It's not dangerous to man and also not dangerous to the environment, to the nature, to use these fireworks," Vichmann wrote.