WACKY GREEN JUDGES

"In 1983, Dr. Fred Purcell and his brother purchased an interest in 216 acres in Travis County near Austin, Texas, which lie within 1,200 acres, which sit at the intersection of two major highways in a rapidly growing commercial and residential area. The Purcells' property, on which they installed water and wastewater gravity lines, force mains, lift stations, and other utilities, contains a number of caves. In 1988 and 1993, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) declared six invertebrate species that live in the caves "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These cave bugs (arachnids, arachnids, and insects, some with eyes, some eyeless) range in length from 1.4 mm to 8 mm. Importantly, the cave bugs are found only in parts of Texas' Travis and Williamson Counties. Plus, there is no commercial market for them; nor do people travel to Texas to see them.

In 1989, the FWS told the Purcells that development of their property would violate the ESA because it would constitute a "take" of cave bugs. In 1990, in an effort to alleviate the FWS's concerns, the Purcells deeded six acres, containing caves and sinkholes in which the cave bugs were known to live, to a non-profit environmental organization. But then, in 1993, after Dr. Purcell cleared brush from his property, the FWS told him that he was under criminal investigation for "taking" endangered species. In 1998, after years of stonewalling, which drew a rebuke from a federal judge, the FWS barred the Purcells from using their property.

In 1999, the Purcells and their partners sued... In 2003, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the lower court's decision, ruling that, because "takes" of cave bugs threaten the "interdependent web" of all species, the cave bug's habitat may be regulated....

On May 27, 2004, the Purcells and their partners asked the Supreme Court to hear their case and to announce, whether, in interpreting the Commerce Clause consistent with the vision of the Founding Fathers in the Court's 1995 Lopez ruling, the Court really meant it. On August 6, the United States will respond. The Commerce Clause implications are quite serious given that half of all ESA-listed species exist only in one state and occur only on private land...."

More here

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Many people would like to be kind to others so Leftists exploit that with their nonsense about equality. Most people want a clean, green environment so Greenies exploit that by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats to the environment. But for both, the real motive is to promote themselves as wiser and better than everyone else, truth regardless.

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