[CPEO-MEF] Press Release from Endangered Species Coalitition

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

WASHINGTON, DC ? 
CENTER FOR PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL OVERSIGHT * DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE 
EARTHJUSTICE * ENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION
HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY * NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION 
NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION * MILITARY TOXICS PROJECT
PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY * SIERRA CLUB * THE WILDERNESS 
SOCIETY

In direct contrast to Defense Department efforts to be exempted from 
parts of our nation's most important environmental laws, a new Zogby 
poll finds that an overwhelming majority of registered voters - 85% - do 
not want any government agency to be placed above the law. 

"Americans clearly want the Department of Defense to obey the law. 
That's why Congress should not be putting exemptions to our 
environmental laws on a fast track without a full and fair public 
participation process," said Brock Evans, executive director of the 
Endangered Species Coalition and a former Marine. 

Last Thursday, April 25, the House Armed Services Military Readiness 
Subcommittee attached exemptions from the Endangered Species Act and 
Migratory Bird Treaty Act to this year's Defense Authorization bill - 
just days after receiving them from the Department of Defense. The 
Department of Defense has also proposed exemptions from the Clean Air 
Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Superfund (CERCLA), and 
Marine Mammal Protection Act and further amendments to the Defense 
Authorization bill remains a definite possibility.

The latest Zogby America poll, conducted for a coalition of public 
interest groups, polled 1,002 registered voters at random nationwide 
from April 19 to April 22, 2002 and has an error margin of +/- 3.2 
percent.

The poll found that eighty percent or more of people in all subgroups by 
region, age, religion, income, and gender believe that government 
agencies should have to follow the same laws as everyone else. Over 
three-quarters of those polled (78%) said they believe that U.S. laws 
already provide the flexibility needed to balance environmental 
protection and military readiness by allowing exemptions on a case-by- 
case basis in the interest of national security. Many of these 
environmental laws already have these specific provisions that allow 
requests by the Department of Defense for the waivers they need. 

Only a small percentage (19%) believe that environmental laws interfere 
with our ability to maintain military readiness and protect national 
security or that US government agencies should not have to place 
environmental protection above the need to ensure that America's armed 
forces receive the greatest possible preparation for the hazards and 
rigors of combat. More significantly, over three- quarters (78%) believe 
that no government agency should be above the law, including the laws 
that protect the environment around our military facilities and the 
health of the people who live nearby. 

The military has successful programs in place to protect wildlife, such 
as the outstanding Army program at Fort Bragg, the Air Force's 
stewardship at Eglin Air Force Base, and the Navy's habitat restoration 
efforts at the Bremerton (WA) Naval station. It makes no sense to allow 
the military to harm or kill whales, dolphins, migratory birds and 
endangered species when alternatives exist. "The U.S. military has 
demonstrated very convincingly that they can both comply with the 
nation's environmental laws and still be the best and most ready 
military force in the whole world," said Evans. "Giving the military a 
free pass to waive environmental protections sets a very bad example and 
it is just plain wrong." 

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For more information, contact:
Brock Evans
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition
202-772-3232
bevans@stopextinction.org
Web site: http://www.stopextinction.org

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