Worst. Term. Ever.

Uh Oh. It's been approximately 170 days since W left town, and while he will never be known as an "environmental president," perhaps we are only now starting to feel the effects of his legacy. Last week the US Supreme Court, led by Bush appointees Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, closed out what has been described by the Georgetown University Law Center as the "worst term ever" for environmental causes . Environmentalists were dealt no fewer than 5 major losses during the term: continuation of US Navy sonar exercises in whale habitat off the coast of California; corporate liability limitation for toxic spill remediation; protection of US Forest Service rule-making; easing of Alaskan mine waste dumping restrictions (as if mining didn't already generate enough waste....); and the allowance of cost-benefit analysis by nuclear energy facilities to determine how much marine life can be killed by cooling infrastructure. Each of these cases reversed federal appeals court decisions, and each has potentially important implications for public health.

Unfortunately, the appointment of a new Justice to fill the void left by the retirement of Justice Souter is unlikely to have much of an effect on future environmental cases heard before the Court. An Obama appointment - Sonia Sotomayor or otherwise - would have likely replaced Souter's dissent in each of the above cases, not swung any of the affirmations away from the conservative bloc.

For the conceivable future before this Court, it's probably straight back to the drawing board for plaintiff's attorney's, environmentalists and public health advocates.

Posted by - CMP