It hasn’t been a good week for the Bush Administration. On Monday, the Supreme Court gave the Bush Administration two rebukes for its global warming and air pollution policies. But these are just the most recent examples of an environmental trend emanating from a Supreme Court that is turning out to be greener than anyone expected. According to NPR, Bush administration officials have been rewriting environmental regulations for the last 6 years -- with environmental groups suing to block the changes. Environmentalists say the pace of decisions in these cases has been picking up, and in most cases both conservative and liberal courts are deciding against the administration. For example, one federal Court rejected Bush Administration changes to the rules that govern what kind of logging, mining, or other activities can be allowed in national forests. And another Court blocked a Bush administration polity to permit coal mining companies to remove the top of mountains in Appalachia and deposit leftover rock in valley streams. And most recently, a court rejected a Bush plan for making Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams safe for salmon, which could lead to removing 4 Washington state dams. Many of the Bush administration policies overturned initiatives launched by the Clinton Administration — including both of the environmental issues the Supreme Court ruled on April 2. According to Carol Browner, who headed the EPA for eight years under President Clinton, "As dreadful as the Bush administration has been with respect to ... environmental issues, the courts have been our savior."
by
Erin Swanson
ESwanson@enviance.com | 
