North Idaho Ramblings

Protect the Environment...? Only if it's Free

For many years, the use of our natural resources in the Northwest has been opposed by many radical environmental groups. This opposition often comes in the form of frivolous lawsuits that use the justice system and agency procedures to deadlock any request for use.Any one who has spent any time in court understands that the underhanded tactics of these environmental agencies are very expensive to combat, running up millions in legal fees. So who pays for all of this? The answer...You do. As in you, the taxpayer. And not just the federal defense...you might just be paying for the environmental attorneys as well. About 30 years ago the Equal Access to Justice Act EAJA was established by Congress to allow low income individuals and business to stand up for themselves in court. It does so by footing the bill for attorney fees and other legal costs incurred by bringing these cases to court. Normally, a lobbying or interest group would be excluded from this act, but it does cover nonprofits. In other words, an environmental group with a multi-million dollar budget will qualify to get its legal fees paid for if it maintains its nonprofit status. And if that isn't ridiculous enough, the system actually disqualifies interested parties such as farmers or ranchers from recouping legal fees if they want to voice their interests in court. Because the environmental groups are suing the federal government, any other interested party is named a "friend of the court", not a plaintiff, and is ineligible to receive reimbursement.

This misuse of taxpayer funds should not continue. It is stifling the responsible use of our natural resources, and the agencies created to protect our national lands and resources have become the trough for money-hungry obstructionists. Recently, there have been some signs of hope with action taken by the western caucus to alert the Attorney General of the situation. This has come about mainly with the push provided by the Western Legacy Alliance, a legal defense fund based in Idaho. A link to their full article provided below.
A big thanks to the Western Legacy Alliance for getting this national attention.
http://www.westernlegacyalliance.org/media/page-2


For many years, the use of our natural resources in the Northwest has been opposed by many radical environmental groups. This opposition often comes in the form of frivolous lawsuits that use the justice system and agency procedures to deadlock any request for use.Any one who has spent any time in court understands that the underhanded tactics of these environmental agencies are very expensive to combat, running up millions in legal fees. So who pays for all of this? The answer...

Posted by Chad Hazelbaker at 1:43 PM