MR. POT...MEET MR. KETTLE? “The folks over at the Center for Biological Diversity, themselves frequent litigants for green causes great and small, have pooh-poohed the suit. Though they admit having considered a similar action themselves, they don’t think the current plaintiffs’ hearts are in the right place because they aren’t true environmentalists and use water for something other than salmon and Delta smelt.” So the law only applies if “true environmentalists” sue – that makes perfect sense. -- Derek Environmentalists who quickly sue when they think the government hasnt followed the Endangered Species Act are stangely crying foul when a group tied to ag interestes does the same. The Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy & Reliability — a nonprofit friendly to ag interests — and a Central Valley farmer have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking an injunction against further water diversions from California’s Tuolumne River to the Hetch Hetchy Project until the National Park Service complies with provisions of environmental law. Plaintiffs contend the National Park Service each year approves instream flows and other Hetch Hetchy Project operations without consulting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as to their impact on Tuolumne River habitat and endangered species. Such consultations are required, according to the lawsuit, by the Endangered Species Act. The suit seeks to have the law responsible for curtailments of irrigation water in the Central Valley applied equally to the reservoir inside Yosemite National Park that supplies politically connected San Francisco with 85 percent of its water. The folks over at the Center for Biological Diversity, themselves frequent litigants for green causes great and small, have pooh-poohed the suit. Though they admit having considered a similar action themselves, they don’t think the current plaintiffs’ hearts are in the right place because they aren’t true environmentalists and use water for something other than salmon and Delta smelt. “They didn’t file this to win it,” executive director Kieran Suckling said. “This case was filed to make a political statement. … Frankly they’re abusing the court system to try to make a political point. They’re using our highly overloaded legal system the wrong way.” The dickens you say! What would become of the legal system if just anyone is allowed to sue the federal government higgledy-piggledy any time and any place they perceive it’s failed to follow environmental laws? Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. FOOD GROWS WHERE WATER FLOWS
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 18:57:30 +0000
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