SCOTUS to screw over whales

Judging by today's early questioning by Supreme Court justices in the case pitting the life and health of whales against the Navy's use of long-range mid-frquency sonar, it could be hard slogging for whales to hold on to the protections they won at the district and appellate court levels:

"You're asking us (for a decision), who know little about whales and less about the Navy," Justice Stephen Breyer told Los Angeles-based attorney Richard Kendall, who is representing environmental groups.

The question is, as the story notes, how much leeway to grant the Navy as to when and how easily it can sidestep environmental decisions.

The Navy's sonar produces underwater sounds that Kendall said are 2,000 times louder than a jet engine. Some scientists this can cause hearing loss, cranial bleeding, behavioral modifications and mass strandings in whales.

As the story notes, a district court required additional safety measures from the Navy, including stopping sonar use when whales or dolphins were spotted within 2,200 yards and shutting down the sonar under certain other conditions.

But BushCo's Council on Environmental Quality (NOT the Navy, if you'll note) declared the existence of "emergency conditions."

The key is whether or not SCOTUS is ready to swallow that line from the executive again.