Year: 2008

Published on Friday, October 10, 2008 by Environmental News Service (ENS)

Supreme Court May Bar Groups From Contesting Federal Rules
by J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared sympathetic to a legal position held by the Bush administration that would limit environmentalists and other public interest groups from challenging federal regulations.

[The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared sympathetic to a legal position held by the Bush administration that would limit environmentalists and other public interest groups from challenging federal regulations.

The case centers on a dispute over rules imposed by the U.S. Forest Service, but legal experts contend the court’s ultimate decision could have far-reaching impacts and make it nearly impossible for many individuals and third parties to contest rules enacted by federal agencies.

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Spread the word-and watch for this! Bush cronies will-like George Sr. did-use these last months in office to throw as much of the public trust to the timber, mining, drilling, cattle, & building interests as possible. Couple that w/ McCain/Palin’s fetish for oil & gas, & Obama’s fascination w/ coal & nuke power-& we could have a big problem on our hands!

I got this from the Western Shoshone Defense Project-who battles nuke & mineral outfits constantly…

ASW

While we’re all watching the ads and debates and wall street woes —
what is really happening to our lands and resources?

News From Representative Raúl M. Grijalva
7th Congressional District of Arizona

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2008
Contact: Natalie Luna (520) 622-6788 office
(520) 904-0375 cell

Chairman Grijalva Denounces Bush Interior Department’s Last Minute Effort to Strip Congress of Power to Protect Public Lands

Tucson, AZ–Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it will rescind a regulation that allows two congressional committees to withdraw public lands from mining and other extractive activities in
emergencies.

The BLM will published a notice tomorrow in the Federal Register to rescind the rule (43 C.F.R. 2310.5) that allows the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to notify the Secretary to withdraw certain lands in emergencies in order to give Congress the opportunity to determine whether permanent protection for the lands is warranted. The notice tomorrow will give the public only 15 days to comment and provides no environmental analysis of the impacts of the proposed action.

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Climate Science: A Shift Toward Impacts Research?

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“[Its] focus has definitely not been on understanding impacts,” says Lubchenco

“Š local and regional officials are receiving
‘inadequate’ help in preparing for potentially
catastrophic changes.”

“Š you have to monitor the planet closer than we’re doingŠ”

“Š CCSP staff Š recommend a shift toward impacts science.”
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SCIENCE
10 OCTOBER 2008  VOL 322

NEWSFOCUS
Impacts Research Seen As Next Climate Frontier
Scientists hope the next U.S. president will
devote more of the billion-dollar climate change
research program to impacts

Marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco was among the
first scientists to study how ecosystems off the
California coast are being affected by climate
change. Although that work has put her ahead of
the curve, it’s hurt her chances of obtaining
funding from the $1.8 billion U.S. Climate Change
Science Program (CCSP), the major federal effort
in the field. “[Its] focus has definitely not
been on understanding impacts,” says Lubchenco, a
professor at Oregon State University, Corvallis,
and a former president of AAAS (which publishes
Science). Instead, she’s relied on grants from
private foundations to support her examination of
oxygen-depleted oceanic “dead zones.”

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