Sunday, March 20, 2011

Environmental Lawsuits - More Profitable Work Than Corporate M&A?


From nationalforestlawblog on February 5, 2010 at 10:17 AM
 
Henry Lamb of the Canada Free Press has this outstanding article that shows how the U.S. taxpayers have paid over $4.7 BILLION to environmental groups and their lawyers to sue the government over the past five years. The records show evidence of double, triple, and quadruple billing by attorneys representing environmental groups at rates up to $650 per hour. That's double what corporate lawyers charge and as much or more than most Manhattan superlawyers charge.

The article is so good, I'm posting the entire text.

Corruption, collusion, or legal thievery By Henry Lamb Tuesday, February 2, 2010 

In 2008, the Forest Service issued a land use plan that environmental organizations didn't like. The Earthjustice Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of four environmental groups. The suit took 15 months. The bill to the federal government from Earthjustice was $279,711.40. The Western Environmental Law Center filed another lawsuit challenging the same land use plan. They represented 15 environmental groups and sent the government a bill for $199,830.65. These two outfits claim that seven attorneys spent more than 930 hours (working full time, that's 116 days), at rates between $300 and $650 per hour. That's good work if you can get it.

Think that's bad? Read on. In September of last year, the Wildearth Guardians sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency, asking the court to prohibit FEMA from issuing flood insurance to private citizens on 52,535 structures that may lie within the range of an endangered species. The group could not sue individual land owners unless they could prove that the structure caused the death or "harm" to any endangered species. 

This suit is designed to block the use of privately owned land, and to collect a handsome fee from the government for doing it. The government keeps no record of these "environmental" lawsuits. Payments, however, are made from a single budget line item called the "Judgment Fund." The Budd-Falen Law firm in Cheyenne, Wyoming has done a yeoman's job in researching payments made from this fund to environmental organizations. 

200310,595 payments madeTotal paid: $1, 081,328,420
20048,161 payments madeTotal paid:  $800,450,029
20057,794 payments madeTotal paid:  $1,074,131,007
20068.736 Payments madeTotal Paid:  $697,968,132
20076,595 Payments madeTotal paid: 1,062,387,142








During these five years, tax dollars have funded environmental groups to the tune of $4.7 billion dollars in attorney fees alone. Another $1.6 million was paid between 2003 and 2005 from the Equal Access to Justice Act. These funds come directly from the agency that loses the suit. This doesn't begin to include all the direct grants and contracts that are awarded to dozens of environmental groups. A closer look at the nature of these lawsuits is also instructive. Between 2000 and 2009, the Western Watershed Project filed at least 91 lawsuits and 31 appeals. They were awarded more than $1,150,528 for such things as failing to list certain grass species as "endangered," and failure to waive photocopy fees for mass document requests. During the same period, the Center for Biological Diversity filed at least 409 lawsuits and 165 appeals. They didn't win all the cases, of course, they just cluttered the courts and walked away with $941,332, for such things as Endangered Species Act (ESA) challenges for failure to list the killer whale, a butterfly and an earthworm as "endangered."

These lawsuits are not confined to western environmental organizations. The Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the National Wildlife Federation have filed a total of 2,034 cases. These lawsuits are often based on alleged procedural wrong doing, rather than on substance. An example of what the greens call "strategic litigation" is the petition entered by the Wildearth Guardians to list 206 species as endangered. At the same time, the Center for Biological Diversity entered a petition for 225 species to be listed as endangered. There is no earthly way the EPA can issue a finding on 431 species within the 90 days required by law.

This is another classic example of the Cloward-Pivin strategy that seeks to demolish a system by overwhelming it. In this case, it is an extremely profitable enterprise for environmental organizations. It is way past time that Congress put an end to this corporate welfare. Many of these environmental organizations boast assets and income in multiple millions, and pay their executives salaries greater than the CEOs of most for-profit corporations. The president of the Environmental Defense Fund, for example, takes home a total of $496,000 per year. The president of the World Wildlife Fund takes home $486,000. These organizations represent what appears to be the worst kind of corruption or collusion, but apparently, it is legal. To the people who pay the taxes, it looks a lot like legal thievery. 

The people who believe that environmental groups can do no wrong - are wrong; flat wrong. Environmental groups are the worst kind of corporate welfare, feeding at the government trough while doing everything possible to put brakes on economic development. These groups then have the audacity to beg for public donations, claiming to be the only salvation for the future of the planet. Hogwash! Congress should immediately launch a thorough investigation of every environmental organization that has applied for legal fees or federal payments of any kind, to assure the tax payers that their money is not being frittered away just to line the pockets of those who run the wealthy green groups. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/19601

Posted by Steve Sinai 
(Thanks Sharon)

24 comments:

Paul said...

Great find, Sharon. And I'm sure San Francisco will take note, and maybe ask some questions.

Anonymous said...

Gee, weren't you all falling all over yourselves in praise of Lionel Emde's successful suit that cost Pacifica legal fees and an out of court settlement? I guess self-deluded hypocrisy only goes so far.

I wonder if the nutcake who's made it their lifework to repeal the 17th amendment (direct election of US Senators) is the type who will take kindly to your posting of their copyrighted material in it's entirety?

Sharon said...

anonymous at 3:37 pm - unsuccessful attempt to divert attention from the facts.

Anonymous said...

Environmental "law" is a growth industry. And make no mistake, the law is a business where everyone is for sale and right and wrong carry price tags. I don't see any on Lionel Emde. He did what he thought was right only after the city showed no interest in correcting a wrong. Would you have people ignore wrong-doing merely because it might cost the wrong-doer money? I don't think that works well for anyone.

Kathy Meeh said...

"...the type who will take kindly to your posting of their copyrighted material in it's entirety?"

Anon 6:01pm, are you suggesting that referenced public copywrighted material cannot be publicly re-posted? Huh, its PUBLIC.

From what I saw earlier, Henry Lamb seems to be a right-wing, small government kind of guy, who also doesn't think global warming is a human problem. Then, his view of the 17th amendment is going no where.

However, to Henry Lamb's credit, he seems to have no appreciation for environmentalist attorney leaches who bleed the government (our tax payer money) for their own purposes. And, outside opinion, it seems he has his research and facts correct (if not prove it).

Markus said...

CBD, as many of the other environmental organizations, is nothing more than an employment exchange for enviro attorneys. These days enviro lawyers carry a very steep price tag largely because there is still plenty of our hard earned tax dollars to be had. We all know the government is not the best steward of our money. How sweet it is to have the tax payers finance their comfy standard of living and hefty carbon footprints estates. Wow, what a country!!!

Admiral Anonymous said...

I wonder if the nutcake who's made it their lifework to repeal the 17th amendment (direct election of US Senators) is the type who will take kindly to your posting of their copyrighted material in it's entirety?

In your rush to attack the poster rather than address the content, it appears you missed this little blurb that appears on every page of Canada Free Press' site:

Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Since we're engaging in non-profit, critical commentary and debate (aka "fair use), I don't think Steve is in any danger of being hauled off in the middle of the night and shipped to Gitmo.

Steve Sinai said...

Unlike groups like the Center for Biological Diversity, Lionel did not intend to make money by filing a lawsuit. He was trying to right a wrong, and it no doubt cost him a lot of time, and probably a little bit of money.

The Center for Biological Diversity has the same attitude towards taxpayers as tax attorneys who help their wealthy clients shelter money so that it isn't taxed. They both take advantages of loopholes and inefficiencies in regulation to make money and stick it to the rest of us.

I'd never heard of Henry Lamb before, and nobody despises wing-nuts on both sides like I do, but occasionally they say something worth listening to. I'm sure Henry Lamb is very happy to have his ideas disseminated. This article is already all over the internet.

Anonymous said...

Even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then. Haven't we all seen that happen?

Anonymous said...

Maybe we should Lamb instead of hog?

Steve Sinai said...

No posting while under the influence, please.

Anonymous said...

Lionel Edme, I would not even put in the same category as enviro slime lawyers.

Great article, SS.

Anonymous said...

oF COURSE NOT. i DON'T THINK ANYONE DID.

Sharon said...

Just to stay on track and offer more info regarding how the environmental groups work, I ran across this very interesting document today. http://www.eskimo.com/~rarnold/Feeding%20at%20the%20Trough.pdf

Anonymous said...

Neither Kathy Meeh nor "Admiral Anon" seem to understand the use of copyrighted material or the concept of "fair use". First just because something exists in "public" doesn't mean you have a right to reprint it without PAYING the copyright holder a licensing fee. And second - replication of a work is not "fair use" as the author says clearly in his admonition - beyond fair use you must obtain the author's permission. I suggest you test your fair use theory by sending the author a link to this page.

Kathy Meeh said...

"Neither Kathy Meeh nor "Admiral Anon" seem to understand the use of copyrighted material or the concept of "fair use"."

Anon 12:31am. Referenced, public article information whether copyrighted (without specific requirement) or not is generally treated the same, best I can tell. Otherwise, from what you are suggesting information exchange would get bogged-down, and almost "nothing", no text from anywhere would be posted or referenced, ever. Further, sharing of public text article information (copyrighted or not)is likely to be a 1st amendment "free speech" right.

In a quick search, here's a classroom use of "fair use" from the University of Maryland. Any public information should be handled about the same.

"In General, What Counts as Fair Use?
"Keeping in mind the rules for instructors listed above, and that all materials must be cited as to their source, some general examples of limited portions of published materials that might be used in the classroom under fair use for a limited period of time include:

* A chapter from a book (never the entire book).
* An article from a periodical or newspaper.
* A short story, essay, or poem. One work is the norm whether it comes from an individual work or an anthology.
* A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.
* Poetry
o Multiple copies of a poem of 250 words or less that exist on two pages or less or 250 words from a longer poem.
* Prose
o Multiple copies of an article, story or essay that are 2,500 words or less or excerpts up to 1,000 words or 10 percent of the total work, whichever is less.
* Illustrations
o Multiple copies of a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture contained in a book or periodical issue."

Sharon said...

Seems like Anonymous on 3/20 @ 6:01 and @ 3/23 @ 12:31 am has nothing better to do than worry about copyright laws, probabaly Brent or Jeff or someone of their ilk trying to divert attention from the elephant in the room.

Anonymous said...

We're talking about vermin and wannabe vermin.
Impervious to pesticides and radiation but a wad of cash will get 'em running everytime.

Scotty said...

Copyright abuse?!!? I guess if you can't argue your case on its merits, you can always just try and bully people to shut them up.

Admiral Anonymous said...

Every single page from the website that this article was obtained from explicity grants permission for its use in this manner.

Anonymous said...

I bet there's a environmental corporate litigator lawyer on this thread. They always come on strong when they need to defend their livelihood.

Anonymous said...

Probably one of them from the pathetic Pacifica Planning Commission.

Steve Sinai said...

Or someone who watched too many episodes of "Matlock."

I wonder if our wannabe attorney would be complaining if I posted, in its entirety, one of Wild Equity's essays on why the golf course should be closed?

Anonymous said...

if somebody waved a $5 dollar bill under their nose, sure they would