OPINION/COMMENTARY

REHEARING DENIED IN UTAH SACRED LANDS APPEAL

Visitors to Rainbow Bridge National Monument who challenged the constitutionality of a National Park Service (NPS) policy of managing the monument as a sacred site today were denied a request that the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (en banc) reconsider the ruling of a three judge panel that the visitors lacked standing. The visitors sued after they were ordered not to approach or were compelled to remove themselves from beneath Rainbow Bridge, which some American Indians say is sacred. The visitors argued, in their petition for a rehearing, that the panel’s ruling conflicts with earlier ruling by the Tenth Circuit and with rulings of other federal appellate courts. In a one sentence order, the three judge panel denied the visitors’ petition.

“We are disappointed by the refusal of the Tenth Circuit to address the fundamental question that the panel’s ruling, along with other such rulings by the Tenth Circuit, throws into question: when may a user of public land sue to demand compliance with the Constitution’s Establishment Clause?” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents the visitors. “Under the opinion issued regarding Rainbow Bridge, no one may sue; yet, other Tenth Circuit rulings permit such lawsuits.”....

Supreme Court Tells Environmentalists to Hit the Road

Pacific Legal Foundation today praised Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that unanimously rejected efforts by environmental groups to give courts greater authority over the day-to-day management of federal administrative agencies. Although environmentalists billed the lawsuit as an attempt to protect western land from environmental damage by off-road vehicles, the case actually sought to give federal courts sweeping decision-making power over government agencies charged with managing federal resources.

Standing up against a host of activist groups and various state officials filing amicus briefs supporting the environmentalists’ position in Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Pacific Legal Foundation was the only organization that filed an amicus brief arguing against giving federal courts command and control authority over federal land management agencies.

“The Supreme Court rightfully resisted the urge to open the courtroom doors and replace a federal agency’s lawful discretion with that of the court’s,” said PLF attorney Emma T. Suárez. “Federal courts should not be in the business of micromanaging federal agencies. The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision should remind environmentalists that the Constitution provides for the separation of powers for a reason.”....

Revamped Green Strategy

The global warming treaty known as the Kyoto protocol is politically dead in the United States. But the treaty's left-leaning environmental extremist supporters haven't given up their fantasy of creating a socialist global economy by controlling energy use.

Rather they've merely switched tactics to achieve that dubious aim -- and I'm not referring to making dopey movies like The Day After Tomorrow.

The new tactic pressures publicly owned corporations into reducing carbon dioxide emissions -- essentially committing to private Kyoto protocols on a corporation-by-corporation basis.

The sort of pressure used by the global warming activists is not the usual one of forcing corporate managements to cave in under the threat of bad publicity. Instead, the activists become shareholders of publicly owned companies, attempting to steer corporate policy under the guise of being corporate "owners."....

Here We Go Again

John McCain just won't stop. He and someone else once favored by Democrats as a Vice-Presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman, look likely to have their Climate Stewardship Act (S.139) considered once again by the U.S. Senate, despite it having been defeated 43 to 55 just last October 30. Other Senators, who invest years of effort in getting their pet proposals to the floor, must be somewhat jealous of McCain's parliamentary abilities. This time, with Democrats more willing in an election year to vote for a proposal that would damage the President, chances for success look far greater.

Unless, that is, the Senators stop to consider just how much the proposal would cost their constituents, at which point they might have second thoughts. The truth is that S.139, which will do nothing at all to stop any global warming that may be occurring as a result of man's actions, would cost more than two Iraq wars if we had to pay for it now. That's because the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would suppress energy use, leading to job losses and lower incomes....

Kyoto by Another Name: McCain and Lieberman Make Climate Mischief

Who does Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) think he is fooling?

McCain's Climate Stewardship Act, cosponsored with Sen. Joe Lieberman (D., Conn.), is a political roadmap back to the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations global-warming treaty that the Senate preemptively rejected by a vote of 95-0 in July 1997.

As originally introduced in January 2003, McCain's bill would require the United States to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide from fossil-energy use, to 2000 levels by 2010 (Phase I) and 1990 levels by 2016 (Phase II). Though not as restrictive as the U.S. Kyoto target—7 percent below 1990 levels during 2008-2012—Phase II was close enough for government work. Too close, in fact, to have any chance of passing.

In an effort to woo the fence-sitters, Senator McCain, in October 2003, stripped Phase II from the bill. The Senate still rejected it by a vote of 55 to 43, but to McCain, that vote was only round one; now, he is demanding a rematch....

Arsonists Terrorize Utah, PETA Pays The Bills

"It appears this is the latest of a series of attacks perpetrated by militant extremists who believe they can advance their extreme agenda by destroying lives and jobs." Those are the words of U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), responding in an official statement yesterday to Monday morning's $1.5 million arson of a commercial lumberyard in his home state. "These are criminal acts," Hatch continued, "and we need to put a stop to eco-terrorists and to any group giving them aid or comfort." We've added the emphasis to this last phrase, because it's worth emphasizing. The domestic terrorists of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) -- the shadowy, violent group that claimed responsibility for Monday's arson in a fax to Salt Lake City radio station KSL -- have exactly one known source of material support. The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made a $1,500 donation to the ELF in 2001. KSL News is also reporting that the ELF has merged with its long-time sister group the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) "into one anarchist collective." (The same ALF that PETA has called "The Army of the Kind.")

PETA's other financial support of terrorists includes a $45,200 gift to convicted animal-rights arsonist Rodney Coronado and a $7,500 payment to Fran Stephanie Trutt, who pleaded guilty to trying to kill a medical research executive. PETA also paid $2,000 to David Wilson, who was the ALF's "spokesperson" in 1997 when it claimed responsibility for firebombing the Utah Fur Breeders Agricultural Co-op -- an institution that's (literally) just down the street from Monday's arson target. Wilson, incidentally, cut his teeth on animal rights as a PETA intern....