Centerblue.org

In an outrageous decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that the US Navy can use sonar that has been demonstrated to seriously injure whales and other marine life, in an unrestricted fashion.

The Navy has been embroiled in a dispute with environmental groups over use of the sonar in training exercises. Lower courts had ruled that the Navy could use the sonar in its exercises so long as it employed mitigation measures such as reducing or suspending sonar emissions when sound-sensitive marine animals are nearby. The Navy was even left with a path whereby it could demonstrate to the court that these mitigation measures had in fact interfered with and impeded its ability to operate effectively.

But no, this wasn’t enough for the Bush Administration, the Navy, or the radical right wing of the Supreme Court. Nothing less than full, unrestricted use of the sonar devices would suffice, with no regard whatsoever for environmental concerns. In making the argument the Bushites resorted to the same, tired but unfortunately effective appeal to a vague national security threat that in their minds require that absolutely nothing get in the way of doing what they please. It’s the same old movie with different actors.

The Court sided with the Navy in a 5-4 decision, which offered blandishments about how the sonar might cause “minor problems”–and rejected the evidence provided by the plaintiffs that showed the exact opposite.

This is what so infuriates me about the radical Right–the pursuit of its interests in a manner that is selfish and without regard to collateral consequences for people, the environment, or future generations. It’s all about what’s important in the here and now, and in the pursuit of a narrow ideology with no room for compromise. Witness the language of Justice Roberts:

Even if plaintiffs have shown irreparable injury from the Navy’s training exercises, any such injury is outweighed by the public interest and the Navy’s interest in effective, realistic training of its sailors…For the plaintiffs, the most serious possible injury would be harm to an unknown number of the marine mammals that they study and observe. In contrast, forcing the Navy to deploy an inadequately trained antisubmarine force jeopardizes the safety of the fleet.

The Court does not, of course, address how some simple common sense mitigation measures “jeopardizes the safety of the entire fleet.” The Navy had more than ample opportunity to use the sonar exercises in places that did not affect marine mammals, and to do so even in locations frequented by the animals if they would just exercise a bit of care. Nobody was asking the Navy to stop using the technology altogether, and the Navy could of course use the sonar in unrestricted fashion in case of war.

National security is obviously an important public interest–but it is not the only one. The public interest is not served if the ocean upon which we rely so much for our food becomes a toilet and a graveyard. Marine mammals are an essential part of the ocean’s ecosystem, and disregarding them so crassly is an assault on all of our long term interests. When two important public interests collide, we should seek out the best compromise possible instead of pretending that one of those interests isn’t really important, as the Court did today.

Hopefully this is yet another senseless decision that will be reversed by the Obama administration.