Whales Win Protection

LATEST:Environmentalists and the NRDC won another court victory against the establishment of a permanent imperial presidency. Federal Court Judge Florence-Maria Cooper threw out the waiver granted to the Navy by the Regime to operate its lethal mid range sonar near California's Channel Islands and the coastline, the home of five species of endangered whales. Environmental groups hailed the decision to curb sonar use by the Navy, which scientists say "can damage the brains and ears of marine mammals." In last night's ruling, Judge Cooper called the Navy's so-called national security emergency "a creature of its own making," and reaffirmed that the military can train effectively without needlessly harming whales. Why to go NRDC!
UPDATE: Fifteen years after the Cold War, paranoia still reigns in the Bunker on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Charlatan granted the US Navy a national security waiver from the National Environmental Protection Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act on Tuesday so it could continue to kill marine mammals using lethal mid range sonar near the California coast. Both the NRDC and the California Coastal Commission will fight the exemptions in court. The exemptions based upon a finding that sonar use in coastal waters is "essential" to national security are unprecedented. Contribute to NRDC so we can continue to fight for protection of these beautiful and intelligent creatures.

By the Navy's own estimates, about 400 whales would suffer permanent injury if it was allowed to use mid range sonar off the California coast. A federal judge has come to their rescue however, ruling that the Navy's plan to protect the marine mammals from injury and death was "grossly inadequate". The court also ordered precautionary measures suggested by the NRDC to protect whales who hunt and migrate up and down the California coast. The Navy will not be permitted to use mid range sonar within 12 miles of the coast or in the Catalina Basin, a submerged canyon which is frequented by whales. This part of the ruling must be especially upsetting to the Navy since it believes that enemy submarines will use underwater canyons to lurk, waiting for targets. The Basin is close enough to Los Angeles to be within range of sea launched ballistic missiles. The Navy will also have to keep a lookout for whales and dolphins during sonar exercises. If any marine mammals are spotted within 2200 yards of the emitting ship, the sonar must be shut off. Thank you, NRDC and those many activists whose supported the legal action against the Navy. Not even the military is above the law in this nation, and they must be reminded of that from time to time.