[CPEO-MEF] Above the law / A break the Pentagon doesn't need

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE
Editorial: Above the law / A break the Pentagon doesn't need
Published June 10, 2003 ED10

Whatever else the war in Iraq may demonstrate about U.S. military might,
it's clear that training and readiness are not deficient. Yet the Bush
administration continues to ask that the Pentagon be exempted from
important environmental laws on grounds that they undermine American
preparedness.

Under legislation approved by the House, the military would be excused
from complying with the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal
Protection Act. A Senate bill would grant exemption only from the
Endangered Species Act.

While species conservation is the primary goal of those venerable laws,
the resulting protections also convey a broader set of benefits -- clean
air and water, open space preservation, outdoor recreation and so on.
Because the military is such a large landholder, the consequences of
removing these protections from its holdings could be vast.

The exemption bills, now in the hands of a conference committee,
continue one of the Bush administration's earliest and most egregious
assaults on environmental law. At various times, Congress has also been
asked to put the military above the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water
Act -- allowing the Pentagon and its civilian contractors to engage in
polluting activities that are outlawed for everyone else.

This editorial can be viewed at:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/561/3927283.html

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