Federal judge smacks down groups over orcas
Yesterday, the BIAW and the Farm Bureau got their heads handed to them by a federal judge. The groups were trying to prevent the listing of Puget Sound orcas as an endangered species. From the News-Tribune:
According to MediaTransparency, Pacific Legal Foundation has some lovely donors.
It's probably better for progressives if Big Stinky and their allies keep pursuing their reckless agenda, since the public seems wise to them. But honestly, at times I'm hard pressed to understand what actually motivates groups like BIAW and the Farm Bureau. Okay, so they have some complaints.
Maybe they should get in line and see if being reasonable works for a change. Their quest to gut basic environmental protections is doing them more harm than good. If I were a small homebuilder or farmer I'd be asking myself exactly why these extremist groups get to speak for me.
To oversimplify, people will still want houses and food, and costs are always passed on to consumers one way or another. If the citizens/consumers want environmental protections, and they do, why keep trying to undo them in such an aggressive manner? But hey, if BIAW and the Farm Bureau want to squander what credibility and influence they have left, that's fine with me.
At any rate, no post that involves orcas would be complete without a link to Orcinus. I hope David Neiwert weighs in on the court case when he has a chance, because it's always great to get his take. The News-Tribune article seemed to suggest that an appeal is unlikely to succeed.
UPDATE 7:00 PM Dec. 22, 2006-- David Neiwert did find time to comment here.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly’s ruling was greeted as an early Christmas present by orca fans, who said it clears the way for actions to revive the remaining population of about 90 killer whales.Ah yes, they must mean this Pacific Legal Foundation, a classic and fairly important cog in the right wing stink tank apparatus, or as I have decided to call the huge collection of conservative think tanks, Big Stinky. (Hey, we already have the shorthand Big Pharma: we need one for these people, too.)
On the other side of the dispute, attorney Russell Brooks, who filed the lawsuit for the Washington State Farm Bureau and the Building Industry Association of Washington, said his clients still have legal options, including appeal.
In his decision, Zilly said the builders and farmers don’t have the legal right to challenge the federal government’s decision to protect the orcas as endangered because lawyers failed to provide evidence that the listing harms the two groups. That didn’t please Brooks or his clients.
“Why in the world do we have to wait until someone actually loses their livelihood?” asked Brooks, who works for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which specializes in property rights cases.
According to MediaTransparency, Pacific Legal Foundation has some lovely donors.
Between 1985 and 2005, the PLF received more than $5 million in grants from right wing foundations. Unlike most mainstream press reports on the Supreme Court hearing, which were satisfied to identify the Pacific Legal Foundation as a conservative legal group and leave it at that, Jennifer Millman took a closer look at the organization's funding stream. She found that amongst the organizations consistent and largest benefactors were five influential and aggressive right wing foundations: the Scaife Family Foundations, the Castle Rock (Coors) Foundation, the now-defunct John M. Olin Foundation, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.One must note that the noxious collaboration between BIAW, the Farm Bureau and Big Stinky isn't working out so well for them this year. I-933 went down in flames and Republican state legislators got hammered at the ballot box. That Supreme Court thing didn't go so well either.
It's probably better for progressives if Big Stinky and their allies keep pursuing their reckless agenda, since the public seems wise to them. But honestly, at times I'm hard pressed to understand what actually motivates groups like BIAW and the Farm Bureau. Okay, so they have some complaints.
Maybe they should get in line and see if being reasonable works for a change. Their quest to gut basic environmental protections is doing them more harm than good. If I were a small homebuilder or farmer I'd be asking myself exactly why these extremist groups get to speak for me.
To oversimplify, people will still want houses and food, and costs are always passed on to consumers one way or another. If the citizens/consumers want environmental protections, and they do, why keep trying to undo them in such an aggressive manner? But hey, if BIAW and the Farm Bureau want to squander what credibility and influence they have left, that's fine with me.
At any rate, no post that involves orcas would be complete without a link to Orcinus. I hope David Neiwert weighs in on the court case when he has a chance, because it's always great to get his take. The News-Tribune article seemed to suggest that an appeal is unlikely to succeed.
Among those celebrating Zilly’s order Wednesday was former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, who was among the parties who sued the federal government to protect the whales.Good for Munro. Kinda makes up a little for these unfortunate comments.
Munro, and others, discounted the likelihood of an appeal by the builders and farmers.
“Tom Zilly is a highly respected judge. I would be surprised if they appeal. This is – from their point of view – a kind of nail in the coffin.”
UPDATE 7:00 PM Dec. 22, 2006-- David Neiwert did find time to comment here.
