Environmental Review for Genetically Engineered Crops
For some genetically engineered (GE) crops, the fields may be quiet, but the courtrooms have been busy. On October 22, Monsanto, Forage Genetics International, and two alfalfa farmers filed a U.S. Supreme Court cert petition to reverse a permanent nationwide injunction that prevents GE alfalfa from being sold or planted. On September 21, a federal court in California held an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required for the deregulation of GE sugar beets. The permanent injunction on alfalfa and the recent decision for sugar beets could result in many lost years where farmers are unable to grow these weed-resistant crops. (For disclosure: my firm, Dorsey & Whitney LLP represented Forage Genetics in this case, and I was lead counsel.)
Continue Reading...NRDC v. Winter -- Green Trumps the Blue and Gold -- National Security Takes a Back Seat to Natural Resources
I. INTRO
On January 3, 2008, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California imposed substantial restrictions on the U.S. Navy’s use of mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar in waters off the California coastline. Although details of the restrictions and their immediate impact on the Navy can readily be discerned by reviewing the judge's order, the reverberations of this order may have a much broader impact that could further enhance the role of environmental lawyers.
Until recently, few might have predicted the success of an environmental challenge to military operations -- especially given our country's current military operations abroad. The California court's much-anticipated order is the latest word in an ongoing debate over MFA sonar operations in potentially close proximity to marine mammals, an activity decried by environmental groups and vigorously defended by the Navy. The U.S. military has generally been able to defend questionable practices by emphasizing the overall importance of those practices to national security. As the Supreme Court noted twenty years ago, "unless Congress specifically has provided otherwise, courts traditionally have been reluctant to intrude upon the authority of the Executive in military and national security affairs."[1]
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