Free Republic

The first lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., Friday evening challenging President Trump’s new emergency declaration to build his border wall. Three Texas landowners and the Frontera Audubon Society in Texas asked a judge to halt any action Mr. Trump might take under the declaration, arguing that a fight with Congress over spending money doesn’t constitute an emergency under the 1970s-era National Emergencies Act.

For years, Wayne Simmons claimed to be a former C.I.A. operative. Then one ex-spook got suspicious. Kent Clizbe, a 55-year-old former C.I.A. officer and intelligence contractor, has cultivated a diverse set of interests in his later years. He loves bird watching and participates in his local Christmas Bird Count, an informal census organized by the Audubon Society. He has a patent on a device, the TimeOff, that prevents unattended-stove fires. But Clizbe’s true motivating force — a holdover, perhaps, from his decade with the agency — is an unrelenting compulsion to get to the bottom of things. He vets every...

Disabled combat veteran Stan Pannaman had every reason to think that surviving a bomb blast during the Vietnam War might be his closest brush with death. But five decades later the 72-year-old ex-Marine got another scare on a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach when he was shot and wounded with his own gun while volunteering to protect sea turtle nests, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. "It was bizarre, for lack of another word," Pannaman said Sunday from his home in Tamarac. "After he shot me, the guy looked like he was in shock. He looked very, very surprised. He actually headed toward...

Connecticut Audubon Society said it's opposed to a legislative proposal that would allow cell towers in state parks and forests and is urging the public to help them fight the idea. A provision in a bill before the General Assembly, An Act Modernizing the State's Telecommunications Laws (SB 447), would allow communications companies to build towers in state parks and forests. The act needs the approval of the commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The Audubon Society believes cell towers would seriously damage wildlife habitat by causing forest fragmentation. The group said that cell towers are also...

Screw you NC government.

Record-high gasoline prices are causing Americans to rethink their opposition to drilling for oil and natural gas in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other federal areas... A nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center shows half of Americans now support drilling in ANWR, up from 42 percent five months ago. And a CNN poll released Thursday found 73 percent of Americans favor exploration for oil and gas off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The public’s changing energy priorities are most evident in the growing percentage that views increased energy exploration — including mining and drilling,...

Specialty breed - Members of the Northwest roller club are accused of killing birds of prey, some endangeredShowing a visitor through the Hillsboro shelters where he raises "roller" pigeons, Ivan Hanchett described how he trapped hawks so they wouldn't bother his precious flock. He suffocated the hawks in garbage bags, he said, and put them in the trash, noting he had "never seen a hawk that could hold its breath more than three seconds." Hanchett went on: Oregon aficionados of the roller pigeon -- a special breed flown in competitions -- commonly capture and kill hawks and falcons that attack...

WASHINGTON - Environmental groups filed two court challenges Wednesday aimed at blocking construction of Maryland's Intercounty Connector, a highway that officials say will ease commutes and take vehicles off local streets. The 18-mile, six-lane highway connecting Interstate 270 in Montgomery County with Interstate 95 in Prince George's County has long been championed by regional business groups, but faced stiff opposition from environmentalists as well as concerns over its cost. It finally won federal approval in May. In one lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, Environmental Defense and the Sierra Club claim the air quality analysis conducted by federal...

An archipelago of sorts, a collection of rock formations dotted with scrub brush, has been home to New York's mental institutions, quarantine hospitals and some of the city's most famous residents. Long abandoned by people, some of the islands have now become home to migratory birds that have flocked there in numbers not seen in decades. The Audubon Society of New York, in partnership with New York Water Taxi, took visitors on a tour of the islands yesterday to showcase the bustling wildlife on display just a short boat ride away from asphalt, concrete and steel towers of Manhattan. Cormorants,...

RENO, Nev. - A judge has sided with conservationists trying to block construction of thousands of homes north of Lake Tahoe, saying a local development plan "builds in opportunities to create environmental mischief" and violates California law. The judge ordered Placer County to suspend all activities under the 2003 Martis Valley Community Plan and set aside the environmental reviews used to approve plans for construction of at least 6,000 homes in the valley southeast of Truckee, Calif. "Of particular concern is the impact which the project will have upon traffic and air quality impacts within the Tahoe Basin," California Superior...

New York -- There are one to three eggs in the nest with the posh Manhattan address, and chicks are expected to hatch within the next two weeks, according to avid bird-watchers who monitor the nest daily and report the activity on the Internet. The nest is at 927 Fifth Ave. -- 12th floor, above the cornice -- and the residents are Pale Male and Lola, the red-tailed hawks whose highly publicized eviction in December sent feathers flying among urban naturalists. "We've transitioned from a Christmas story to a spring awakening," said E. J. McAdams, executive director of the New...

<p>Whenever there is a discussion of energy policy, many environmentalists and their political allies tout wind power as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. Even if electricity from wind power is more expensive than conventional fuel sources, and it is, wind advocates argue its environmental benefits are worth it. In particular, proponents claim increased reliance on wind power would reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.</p>

The anti-hunting movement is in turmoil this winter. For a change, animal rights groups are in power struggles instead of challenging a sportsman's right to fish or hunt. Ingrid Newkirk and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have taken aim at the larger, well-heeled Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The Fund for Animals wants a piece of the Audubon Society's hide. Paul Watson of the lightly financed but virulently anti-hunting Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is on the Sierra Club's board of directors and plans a takeover attempt. Wayne Pacelle jumped ship a while back, moving...

One great insight from the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter is that, “the first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie,” and the fuss and furor over drilling in ANWR illustrates the point. Do Utopians lie, yes? Do they have to lie, yes ? Why? The sugarplums dancing in their heads can’t be defended in any other way. Of all the arguments against drilling in ANWR, perhaps the most ingenuous is that there is not enough oil to bother with. According to Richard Pombo, representing the 11th Congressional District of California: Texas has 4.9 billion barrels of proven...