[CPEO-MEF] Pendleton and the environment - Marines seek sweeping exemptions from

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

California
THE NORTH COUNTY TIMES
Pendleton and the environment - Marines seek sweeping exemptions from
laws
By Darrin Mortenson
Last modified Thursday, October 16, 2003 10:56 AM PDT

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Could preserving songbirds and fairy shrimp endanger
the lives of U.S. Marines? Or should Marines be free to trample and bomb
endangered rodents and frogs to train for the war on terrorism?

These are some of the issues at stake as Congress considers the 2004
Defense Authorization Act, now in legislative conference.

As it plays out on Capitol Hill, competition among priorities of
civilian growth, preserving the environment and keeping the military
ready for war have thrust North County onto center stage: Camp Pendleton
is where the Pentagon has chosen to make its stand, and
environmentalists are taking on the military.

In what the Pentagon has dubbed the Readiness and Range Preservation
Initiative, the military asks that the country's key environmental laws
be rewritten to protect it from litigation and to elevate military
readiness to a place alongside economic and environmental factors in
regulatory decisions.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/10/16/news/top_stories/10_15_0322_10_19.txt

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