The Arkansas Chapter Sierra Club September 2003

Throughout the summer and continuing into the fall, Congress has continued to struggle with issues of federal energy policy and federal judicial nominations. The Sierra Club, at the national, state, and local levels, has been working diligently to ensure that the environmentalist viewpoint is heard clearly when important decisions are being made. The good news? Progress is being made and some distinct victories have been won. The bad news? Some of our federal officeholders are not hearing from us enough, and are casting troubling votes.

In the realm of federal judicial nominations, President Bush has continued to offer right-wing ideologues as his choices for federal judgeships. These nominees have a history of troubling activism, including many who are staunchly opposed to the federal government taking a role in protecting our environment. Democrats in the Senate, with the support of the Sierra Club and our coalition partners, have stood firm against several of the worst nominees. With the consistent support of Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, the Senate minority has successfully filibustered the nominations of Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, and Bill Pryor. After seven failed attempts at winning confirmation, nominee Estrada chose to withdraw his nomination in early September.

Although President Bush and the Senate Republican leadership are lashing out at our efforts to derail these nominees, it is worth noting that only a very few nominees have been filibustered. Over 140 Bush judicial nominees have been nominated and confirmed since he took office, with only three blocked. At this same point in President Clinton’s presidency, the Republican Senate minority blocked 65 of Clinton's judicial nominations. Clearly, our coalition is being very selective and using the filibuster tool only when the nominee is unqualified, partisan, and lacks the ability to administer impartial justice.

Federal energy policy has also been a huge topic of debate during this summer's legislative session. President Bush and the Republicans put forth an energy bill that was nothing short of terrible. The bill ended a moratorium on drilling and exploration in sensitive areas, gave huge tax breaks to polluting industries, and did nothing at all to encourage the use or development of renewable energy sources. The Sierra Club and others joined forces to defeat this bill and offer numerous positive amendments. As debate came to a close, it appeared that several earth-friendly amendments were going to pass. However, without any warning, the Democratic leadership cut a deal with the Republican leadership to pass the 2002 version of the energy bill (written by a Democratic Senate). That bill passed overwhelmingly.

The bad news? It means nothing. The House version and the Senate version now go to a "conference committee," where the details will be ironed out. Republican Senators have already said they will completely rewrite the bill, and that it will look nothing like the bill that passed the Senate. Seeing as how Republicans control both the House and the Senate, I don’t have a lot of hope for progressive measures being included in the bill. However, the end product still must be voted on by the entire House and Senate.

You can help on both of these issues by continuing to stay in contact with Senators Lincoln and Pryor. Over the past few months, they have received hundreds of letters and phone calls from us on issues of judicial nominations and energy policy. Now is not the time to let up. Take some time now, and at least once a month, to drop them a note and tell them how you feel. We can’t outspend the opposition, but I'm confident that we can outwork them.

Glen Hooks, Regional Conservation Organizer
Sierra Club of Arkansas
1308 West 2nd Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
(501) 301-8280
glen.hooks@sierraclub.org