Permission to Pollute

The US Military wants to be excused from duty. That is, it’s duty to obey the environmental laws of the United States of America. Last year the Defence Department won exemptions from three major environmental laws — the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty. Now, the military wants to ignore the Clean Air Act and toxic waste laws. To its credit, Congress has already refused to allow these additional exemptions, but the Defence Department is preparing to join the battle once more