Navy asks for ruling to allow sonar training after Bush exemption (xpost from Veterans)

[unhappycamper]

Bush exempts sonar from law
Says training ‘of paramount interest’


Navy asks for ruling to allow sonar training after Bush exemption
By Chris Amos - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 16, 2008 17:53:51 EST

The Navy has asked a federal appeals court to lift a temporary injunction that restricts Navy sonar use in upcoming exercises off the California coast.

The injunction was issued Jan. 3 by U.S. District Judge Florence Cooper in response to a lawsuit filed by environmentalist groups, which complained that extensive use of mid-frequency range active sonar during Navy training exercises had killed an untold number of whales around the world.

The Navy asked the appeals court to overturn Cooper’s injunction after President Bush issued a statement Tuesday exempting naval exercises off the Southern California coast from regulation by the Coastal Zone Management Act. The White House Council on Environmental Quality approved a plan that Navy officials say puts its planned sonar use in compliance with a second federal law, the National Environmental Policy Act.

Navy officials say those two laws provided the basis for the lawsuit and for Cooper’s injunction, which barred the Navy from using sonar within 12 miles of the California coast; required Navy sonar to be shut down when whales are spotted within 2,000 meters of Navy ships; required the Navy to use two specially trained lookouts during sonar use; and required the Navy to watch for whales from the air for at least 60 minutes before sonar can be powered up.

Bush said the Navy’s ability to conduct composite training unit exercises and joint task force exercises as soon as next week “are in the paramount interest of the United States.”


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/navy_sonar_080116/

[truedelphi]

1. That's the problem when someone on our side wins - moments later

The other side is out in force, demanding reconsideration of what they just lost.

I'd like to sonar these asswipes in the Navy.

And I hate noticing this sort of heart breaking story right before bed.