Articles

An editorial in yesterday's Voice of the Times (based in Alaska) discusses the listing of the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act and notes that the economic effect of such listings potentially is crippling to development not only in Alaska, but in in the rest of the nation.  It could be that virtually any … ...

The federal government listed the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act because of the perceived threats to its habitat due to global warming.  Presumably, the government and environmental groups may use the listing to fight global warming — any activity that may contribute to global warming may also harm the polar bear and so &# ...

Here is an interesting post from Jon Meacham of Newsweek on a recent interview between Newsweek reporter Dan Stone and Secretary Kempthorne. The latter took the reporter outside on the balcony of the Interior Building following a news conference, and observed: "Every morning a small bird comes here and sings the most beautiful songs," he ...

by Timothy Sandefur There is a must-read post at The Volokh Conspiracy this morning explaining why Proposition 99 is very bad news for property rights: By defining the scope of protection for property owners as precisely as it does, Proposition 99 forecloses the possibility of such a judicial development in California. The state Supreme Court R ...

Those favoring a balanced approach towards the Endangered Species Act scored a small, albeit important, victory on Tuesday when the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated a district court opinion that had held that section 10 of the ESA does not authorize the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to … ...

by Timothy Sandefur I spoke last week at the Dole Institute in Kansas regarding eminent domain and the state of property rights after Kelo v. New London. You can now watch that talk online in .wmv format by clicking here. … ...

One of the difficulties inherent in challenging ESA listings and other applications of this heavy-handed law is that, at least in the court of public opinion (and too often in courts of law), you're up against the perfectly reasonable American fondness for wildlife. Environmental groups understand that a weak case for an ESA listing can … ...

Citizen suits under the ESA must be preceded by a 60 day notice of the ESA violation to the alleged violator.  See 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g)(2)(A)(i). The Center for Biological Diversity has recently made two such notifications to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.  In one notice, CBD alleges that the Secretary has failed to … ...

The Volokh Conspiracy's Jonathan Adler points to George Will's recent column on the polar bear listing for support of the proposition that "some conservative complaints are overstated. There is little risk that the federal government, or even a wayward federal judge, will hold that some power plant or other large greenhouse gas emitter ...