Posted on 09/26/2006 6:05:16 AM PDT by Brilliant
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A federal judge has halted the sale of federal oil leases on a portion of Alaska's North Slope that environmentalists have pinpointed as a haven for migratory birds and calving caribou. The decision Monday blocks the sale of about 1.7 million acres that the Bureau of Land Management had planned for Wednesday. The sale would have included the Teshekpuk Lake area, which sits above 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Environmental groups have argued that a 600,000-acre section of the reserve at Teshekpuk Lake contains some of the most important wetlands in the Arctic.
The decision by Judge James K. Singleton echoed a decision he had issued on Sept. 7 that temporarily halted the sale. Government environmental studies, Singleton wrote, were too narrow in scope because they did not consider how leasing in the northeastern part of the reserve would affect land and wildlife in the northwestern section of the 23-million acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The government is fighting hard put at least a portion of the lease up for bid. The Interior Department had offered last week to temporarily abandon the sale of oil leases near the lake, asking the court to allow the leases outside the Teshekpuk region to proceed.
The ruling expressly forbids the government from selling leases to tracts on the northeast section of the reserve. But the government is consulting with its lawyers to see whether the decision leaves room for sales in the northwest section, according to Danielle Allen, a bureau spokeswoman.
The government plans to redo its environmental impact studies and attempt the sale again, a process that could take more than a year, Allen said.
Plaintiffs, including the National Audubon Society and the Center for Biological Diversity, called the ruling a victory.
"We believe and hope that when the government takes a full look at the environmental impact to this area, it will come out with a decision that protects the resources better," said Deirdre McDonnell, an attorney for Earthjustice.
Has the judge been bought with petro-dollars?
F*%$ the caribou!!!
Invoke Andrew Jackson: "Judge James K. Singleton has made his ruling, now let's see him enforce it."
So which is it...Carter or Clinton?
We cannot drill for oil on the ANWR Coastal plain because that land was set aside for wildlife.
We cannot drill for oil in the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska because,... wait,... how did that go again?
Are you really that tall?
Loony moonbat judge bans production of oil in the Arctic wastes, thereby ensuring more years in power for the terrorist-sponsoring oil-ticks in Saudi, Iran etc.
Some more epic rulings from the good Judge:
On July 3, 2001, District Judge James K. Singleton ordered Anchorage, Alaska, to reinstall a gay pride exhibit at Z.J. Loussac Library after ruling that the city's library policy was too vague.
ANCHORAGE - A federal judge leaning toward arguments made by environmental group lawyers offered Thursday to issue an injunction against logging in roadless areas of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska.(The same!)
n overturning several key components of Alaska’s 1997 campaign reform law, U.S. District Court Judge James Singleton ruled that individuals are free to donate unlimited amounts of money to political parties or groups, to be used for such things as issue advocacy, voter registration and administrative costs
Born 1939 in Oakland, CA
Federal Judicial Service: Judge, U. S. District Court, District of Alaska
Education:
University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, LL.B., 1964
Professional Career: Private practice, Anchorage, Alaska, 1963, 1965-1970
Race or Ethnicity: White
The Lawgivers-In-Black are getting so blatant that they're letting "senior" Lawgivers-In-Black do their dirty work. Singleton was appointed to the bench in 1980 by the Peanut Farmer, elevated to the chief judge in Anchorage by S(l)ick Willie, and assumed "senior" (semi-retired) status in 2005.
What they found was that the caribou loved the pipeline. It provided rudimentary shelter for calving in the spring. The oil flow through the pipeline actually raised the temperature of the immediate vicinity by a degree or a fraction thereof. The caribou that hung around the pipeline raised it further with their body temperatures and with their peeing and pooping. The peeing and pooping created a whole new mini ecosystem in the area which attracted more caribou who diversified the herd and increased both the number and vitality thereof.
Unspoken conclusion: Build it and they will come.
Or was this another Sununu-Bush41 "present"? I'm now finding conflicting sources on who first put this LIB on the bench (see #10).
I'll pass on hat idea. Oh, and remember, war protection. I'd suggest Caribou Condoms (look it up).
"Center for Biological Diversity"
Biological Diversity...WTF?
i.e. dogs and cats must have frequent meetings to understand their differences.....
Do we actually have an elected government anymore? How is it possible that every function of government can be blocked by a group of left wing fanatics and pinko judges?
Alaska contains about 420 million acres and about 900 thousand caribou. This works out to about 470 acres for each caribou. If 1.7 million acres are 'temporarily' used for oil exploration, then each caribou would temporarily have to get by on 468 acres instead of 470 acres. It seems to me they could handle this temporary 'hardship'. If the environmentalists really cared about the caribou they would be more concerned by hunters who kill over 20,000 per year rather than oil exploration which will have virtually no adverse effect on the herds.
Well, going to school in Berkeley and growing up in that area with the 9th Circus Court as a role model explains it all.
You said it! Courts abusing their power, only it isn't really in their power to do what they are doing.
And Bush gets blamed when the price of oil goes up!
I tell you guys, the American public is just about as stupid as the Europeans.
I am now going out to fill my car's tank. No longer will I visit the local Citgo station.
One last thing: oil-well drilling does not bother migratorty birds. Look at Louisiana, for example: lots of oil wells, and many, many migratory birds.
Wouldn't you think that the Audubon Society would know that?
No don't do that! They are really good grilled with mashed potatos and gravy.
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