Public Use, or Politics?

Things to Come ^ | 2/6/2005 | Joel Raupe

[Prospero]

The following is featured in the latest edition of The North Carolina Conservative newspaper

Hard questions remain unanswered about the need for an "Outlying Landing Field," or an "OLF" in historic and environmentally sensitive land in eastern North Carolina.

Now internal Emails, revealed in federal court, may show the Navy "reverse engineered" the process for site selection, deciding upon a preferred location and then creating a paper trail to make it appear as though other sites and possibilities for a desired aircraft carrier landing practice field had been eliminated.

In an era of impending base closings, unveiling the Navy’s site selection process has brought an uncomfortable spotlight on important constitutional questions, ancient state laws that give the federal military unlimited reign over North Carolina, authentic environmental concerns and, finally, whether there ever existed any authentic need for the Navy to build the proposed $200 million landing field.

[Prospero]

Setting aside the environmental concerns, the Navy's heavy handed tactics in using an old North Carolina law that may be unconstitutional, to export noise from Virginia, raises questions for every American about the emerging murky scope of eminent domain.