At issue is the long-running dispute over the Navy’s use of mid-frequency sonar in training exercises off the California coast. Environmental advocacy groups contend that federal law requires the Navy to assess the damage that could be caused to whales and dolphins and to adopt steps to minimize that damage. What is really in question is how far the President and his agencies can go. The president has suspended environmental laws in the name of a national security emergency. The lower courts ruled that the executive branch cannot simply waive federal environmental laws on its own. But the Bush administration won a temporary reprieve while it appealed.
Washington Legal Foundation argued that the courts cannot trump the president’s powers in a case like this. “The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces and the Navy. It’s his judgment — and his admirals’ judgment — on how best to train our seamen in this time when we have two wars going on,” Kamenar says.
But Richard Kendall, representing the Natural Resources Defense Council, countered that even though these exercises are almost over, much is at stake for the future. “If the executive branch can say after an Article III court has ruled, ‘Your ruling doesn’t count,’ then our constitutional framework would have just undergone an earthquake,” Kendall says.
At issue is the long-running dispute over the Navy’s use of mid-frequency sonar in training exercises off the California coast. Environmental advocacy groups contend that federal law requires the Navy to assess the damage that could be caused to whales and dolphins and to adopt steps to minimize that damage. What is really in question is how far the President and his agencies can go. The president has suspended environmental laws in the name of a national security emergency. The lower courts ruled that the executive branch cannot simply waive federal environmental laws on its own. But the Bush administration won a temporary reprieve while it appealed.
Washington Legal Foundation argued that the courts cannot trump the president’s powers in a case like this. “The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces and the Navy. It’s his judgment — and his admirals’ judgment — on how best to train our seamen in this time when we have two wars going on,” Kamenar says.
But Richard Kendall, representing the Natural Resources Defense Council, countered that even though these exercises are almost over, much is at stake for the future. “If the executive branch can say after an Article III court has ruled, ‘Your ruling doesn’t count,’ then our constitutional framework would have just undergone an earthquake,” Kendall says.
