[CPEO-MEF] Potshots at the environment

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

The Chicago Tribune requires registration to view this editorial.
Registration is quick and free.

_______________________________________________
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL
Potshots at the environment
Published May 17, 2003

The House Armed Services Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would
exempt the Defense Department--and even most federal agencies--from
several environmental regulations, most notably the Endangered Species
and Marine Mammal Protection acts. Sponsors say this measure,
camouflaged in the huge defense funding bill, will enhance American
military readiness.

It will do no such thing. The bill is a blatant attempt to misuse the
afterglow of the U.S. military victory in Iraq as a propellant for
gratuitous, anti-environmental legislation. Congress should strip it
from the rest of the defense authorization package for fiscal year 2004.

Such an exemption has long been on the Defense Department's legislative
wish list. But last year Congress approved only an exemption from
migratory bird protections. The Pentagon now wants the remaining
exemptions.

Last week the House Resources Committee approved the tendentiously
titled National Security Readiness Act of 2003, which goes beyond the
Pentagon's wishes by giving the secretary of interior authority to
exempt other federal agencies as well. On Wednesday, the bill was
approved, almost intact, by the House Armed Services Committee.

If the armed forces' splendid performance in Iraq is any indication,
there is no evidence that the environmental laws have impaired military
readiness. Far more certain is that to give the military--the
government's greatest polluter--a pass on such laws would blow a giant
hole in environmental legislation passed during the past three decades.

This editorial can be viewed at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0305170254may17,1,4097488.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~