TJ Wrote:
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> You forgot to mention that some of these groups
> receive federal grant money to fund the
> "environmental" lawsuits. It wasn't a secret, but
> the media seems to have treated that fact as
> though it were. This was set up during Carter's
> administration, the idea being that publicly
> elected or appointed officials could not be
> trusted to actually enforce environmental law.
>
> Also granted by the same law was a very special
> legal standing to sue, which enables someone who
> is not an affected party, to sue. To have the
> needed "standing" to sue, almost anywhere but in
> environmental law, you have to be an adversely
> affected party. Not so with these groups
>
> So whenever officials don't enforce environmental
> law to the satisfaction of some group or other,
> the fed funded lawsuits will fly, along with the
> NYMBY and wacko-club and other as you mentioned
> actions as well.
>
> So instead of properly appointed qualified experts
> and officials elected by the people making these
> decisions, they are made by what are essentially
> vigilante groups. Worse yet, nobody can speak for
> all these groups. So even a settlement with one
> such group, or several; does not mean the project
> can proceed - there are sure to be other random
> lawsuits from other disgruntled groups on the way
> - in a never ending free-for-all.
>
> These provisions need to be repealed, or at least
> severely restricted; thus returning the power
> back to the people's elected agents - where it
> belongs.

Does this have any current relevance to the environmental assessment being conducted for the Hiawatha project?