[CPEO-MEF] Such a bother

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Arizona Daily Star
Editorial
Such a bother

When it comes to environmental rules and regulations, the Pentagon
figures why bother? It's just so much folderol. Pollution from power
plants? Forget about it. And so what if a firing range is strewn with
toxic munitions? Let it be, and let the military go about its business.
And please, never mind the mess.

The Pentagon is pleading for exemptions to environmental regulations so
it would not have to bother with toxic cleanup, endangered species, bird
migration and protection of marine mammals. The strange element in all
this is that there exists provision for such exemptions in matters
involving national security.

Stranger still, is that the impetus for the exemptions comes directly
from the Pentagon rather than commanders of the nation's 425 military
installations that take up 25 million acres. The commanders of these
forts and bases are actually concerned and conscientious environmental
citizens.

That, unfortunately, hasn't always been the case. The Department of
Defense leads the nation in Superfund sites (it has 130), groundwater
contamination and illegal discharges. It surpasses private industry.

The impetus for the exemption comes from the administration's very own
version of Dr. Strangelove, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. In
a memo to the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, Wolfowitz asserted
that it was "time to give greater consideration to requesting such
exemptions" if environmental regulations might hamper training and
military preparedness.

This editorial can be viewed at:
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/mon/30324editpentagon.html

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