The Military's Fight to be Unaccountable
for its Impact on the Environment

By Jessica Dickens

In the previous issue of Whales Alive!, CSI pleaded with readers to call their US Representatives and Senators and tell them NOT to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This plea is still valid, as the Department of Defense (DoD) battles to weaken the MMPA and be exempted from other environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The DoD claims that these laws are hindering their ability to properly prepare for their mission in this time of heightened security. It must be mentioned that, in times of conflict, the military is already exempted from environmental laws. The DoD wants to go further, to be allowed to be self-governing for any activity, to decide for itself which activities harm the environment, and to decide what to do about it. This demand for astonishing authority undermines and threatens our society's delicate but well-proven system of checks and balances.

Any weakening of the MMPA will be exploited to allow many normally regulated activities to be unmonitored and out of the public view, such as seismic exploration for gas and oil, active sonars, military tests, and many research activities. A weakened MMPA will allow the public to be kept in the dark about many activities exploiting cetaceans and the environment.

The effort to change the MMPA is a direct result of military practices that either harmed the environment or caused harm and death to marine mammals. The Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFA) is a prime example, where the sonar is believed to cause harm directly to marine mammals. In her article, "Under Assaults: Defense Department targets Marine Mammal Protection Act for Major Changes," Dr. Naomi Rose, Marine Mammal Scientist for the Humane Society of the US states: "the MMPA is one of the strongest environmental protection laws in the world. It would be a tragedy for it to be weakened just when the marine environment, besieged by global warming, increasing noise, chemical pollution and other human impacts, needs protection more then ever." Without these time honored checks and balances the military and some civilian entities would have free range to do as they please, and increase the assault on our oceans. And we, the public, may not know about it for many years. By that time it may be too late.

You can help to prevent decades of hard-won environmental laws from being gutted. Continue to make your voices heard by congress and the public at large. The House and the Senate are still discussing how to resolve the issue of military exemptions. At this moment the Senate Bill does not have the military exemptions in the House Bill, and your advocacy may keep the DoD exemptions from happening. Speak up now, and stay vigilant.