Color me shocked, stunned, flabbergasted, discombobulated and utterly, completely agog: A federal judge appointed by our current President issued a decision yesterday that - be sure you are sitting down before you go on - actually follows the legislative and regulatory process as the founding fathers and Constitution envisioned it ought to work.
I know that's hard to believe - trust me, upon reading the article, I did a double take and went over to snopes.com and The Onion to make sure it wasn't an urban legend or a prank - but it's true. It actually did happen.
Here are the high points:
- Federal Judge Scott Skavdahl is a federal district court judge in Wyoming, appointed by Barack Obama;
- His ruling, for once, exactly follows the intent of the legislative/regulatory process, i.e., he rules that DOI cannot regulate hydraulic fracturing because Congress has not given that power to DOI. What a concept!;
- Key passage from the decision: "Congress' inability or unwillingness to pass a law desired by the executive branch does not default authority to the executive branch to act independently, regardless of whether hydraulic fracturing is good or bad for the environment or the citizens of the United States.”
· If upheld through the appellate process, the reasoning behind this
decision could have wide-reaching impacts on other major Obama Administration
environment-related regulatory actions, such as the Waters of the U.S. and methane emissions
regulations, given that all of those actions also vastly exceed the authority granted to the
regulators by congress.
DOI will of course appeal this decision, but at least for
this morning, justice has actually prevailed.
Somebody pinch me and make sure I'm not just dreaming this...
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