Political CoverUps
Court OK's border fence despite environmental worry
June 2008
By Andrew Peterson
For CoverUps.com
The U.S. Supreme Court supplied a welcome dose of sanity and reason in the debate over a section of border fence across a canyon known as Smugglers Gulch, just south of San Diego.
The Court let stand a lower court ruling against environmentalists that allowed the Department of Homeland Security to waive burdensome environmental rules so the border fence could be built.
According to an article in the San Diego Union Tribune by Leslie Berestein, lawsuits intended to stop the fence came from the usual suspects:
“It's over. They're going to build a wall,” said attorney Cory Briggs, who in 2004 filed suit to stop the project on behalf of the Sierra Club, San Diego Audubon Society, the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association and other local environmental groups.
The appeal, which grew out of a challenge to fence construction in Arizona, was filed by the Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club...
We can thank Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) for this victory.
“This has been enormously important to him,” said Joe Kasper, Hunter's press secretary. “He has been an advocate for border fencing long before it was part of the national debate.”
Naturally (pun intended), the enviros aren't giving up – and we can expect to see them trying to throw sand in the gears right up to the point when the last mile of fence is built. As Berestein's article says:
Although yesterday marked the end of the line for the Arizona case, said Defenders of Wildlife attorney Brian Segee, there is still a chance that another legal challenge may prevail. [Another case, in Texas], which Segee said has yet to be heard, represents not only local governments but also tribal and environmental interests, and covers a much larger area than the Arizona litigation did.
Our Take
One very interesting thing this article doesn't even mention is the environmental damage done by illegal aliens. Do the eco-crusaders even think about that? Illegal alien camp sites are notoriously filthy places, full of trash and human waste. Campfire embers ignite brush fires that surely have killed off more than a few endangered animals. Once the fence goes up, this problem goes away. The wildcats and snail darters and spotted owls would thank us if they could. The enviros, if they had their heads on straight, would thank us too. But don't hold your breath.
Read the original article.
