Overseas Pollution Regulation Lawsuit Involving U.S. Federal Developers To Proceed. More Philip Lynott Statue Dedication News.

Hey, It's Not Polluting If It's Not In My Back Yard...

In what will likely be called another case of "judicial activism" by clowns like Tom DeLay, a federal judge has ruled that government agencies whose actions overseas contribute to global warming can be sued. Yahoo News AP Wire excerpt:

SAN FRANCISCO - Environmental groups and four U.S. cities can sue federal development agencies on allegations the overseas projects they back financially contribute to global warming, a judge has ruled.

A coalition of environmental groups sued two government agencies that provide loans and insure billions of dollars of U.S. investors' money for development projects overseas. Many are power plants that emit greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide that are believed to be a leading cause of global warming.

"This is the first decision in the country to say that climate change causes sufficient injury to give a plaintiff standing, to open the courthouse door," said Ronald Shems, a Vermont attorney representing Friends of the Earth. That group, in addition to Greenpeace, Boulder, Colo., and the California cities of Oakland, Santa Monica and Arcata, sued the government agencies. They argued that the National Environmental Policy Act, the law requiring environmental assessments of proposed projects in the United States, should apply to the U.S.-backed projects overseas because they contribute to the degradation of the U.S. environment.

The agencies, known as the Overseas Private Investment Corp. and the Export-Import Bank of the United States, claimed that U.S. environmental regulations do not apply to overseas projects, and that the courts have no right to intervene.

Full Story

This is what the anti-regulation crowd refuses to get through their thick skulls. As compromised as our environmental standards have become under President Useless Moron, they are still much higher than those in many other nations, some of whom are clients of these development agencies. They either don't believe, or they do believe but simply don't care, that environmental standards should be applied across the board.

For example, if I own a paper mill on the banks of a river, and, for the sake of convenience I dump my waste into that river, I may not be in violation of my state's laws regarding clean water. However, if that river flows across the border of a neighboring state just a few miles away that has tougher pollution standards, then I am in violation of that state's clean water regulations. The same standard should apply from country to country, because air and water pollution do not recognize borders between states and nations.


Philip Lynott Statue Dedication Photos

Philip Lynott's Statue dedication photos from last Saturday's celebration (and a review of the accompanying show that featured several ex-Lizzy guitarists) have been posted on the Thin Lizzy A Rock Legend web site here.

Thanks to the resourceful Miss Templeton for carrying the story on her blog, Horslips and Other Music (see my links list for more details).