Court hears case Wednesday on Navy sonar, whales

[susanbanks44]

The Supreme Court is weighing whether presidential power in wartime can override environmental concerns in a case that pits the Navy's submarine-hunting training against protection for whales.

The Bush administration, in arguments Wednesday, is asking the court to undo lower court rulings that limited the use of sonar in naval training exercises off the coast of Southern California.

Sonar, which the Navy relies on to locate enemy submarines, can interfere with whales' ability to navigate and communicate. There is also evidence that the technology has caused whales to strand themselves on shore.

The exercises have continued since the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in February that the Navy must limit sonar use when ships get close to marine mammals.

More:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008238918_apscotusnavysonar.html

[Eugene]

1. Supreme Court case pits Navy against marine mammals off California coast - McClatchy

Source: McClatchy newspapers via The Guardian

Supreme Court case pits Navy against marine mammals off California coast
Justices sound sympathetic to Pentagon officials who
want to run large-scale Navy exercises off southern
California

McClatchy newspapers
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday October 08 2008 21:45 BST

Whales may simply have to pay the price as the Navy
prepares for war, Supreme Court justices suggested today.

In a closely watched environmental case, justices this
morning repeatedly sounded sympathetic to Pentagon
officials who want to run large-scale Navy exercises off
the southern California coast. While the resulting
underwater sonar storm disturbs marine mammals, it also
helps prepare sailors for combat.

"I thought the whole point of the armed forces was to
hurt the environment," justice Stephen Breyer said, half-
jokingly. "Of course they're going to do harm."

-snip-

Chief justice John Roberts raised the spectre of an
undetected "North Korean diesel submarine to get (closer)
to Pearl Harbor" if sailors couldn't train with sonar, and
justice Samuel Alito asked pointedly if a judge could be
considered "an expert on anti-submarine warfare". Alito
added that there is "something incredibly odd" about a
trial judge making a decision "contrary" to the Navy's
requirements.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/08/supremecourt.endangeredspecies

[codjh9]

2. Did any of you hear that dickhead (one of the Supreme Court justices :^) on NPR

saying basically 'well all war is harmful to everything'.... as someone on our side then said, yeah, but these are EXERCISES, not real all-out war.