Active Sonar 1, Whales 0

In Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel The Supreme Court reversed a preliminary injunction limiting the Navy’s use of full powered active sonar when training near whales and other marine mammals in Southern California. The majority held that the defendants had not shown sufficient harm when balanced against the need for Navy training to justify a preliminary injunction.  Justice Ginsburg, dissenting with Justice Souter, noted that the National Environmental Policy Act’s requirement of an EIS is a legislative commandment and that the Navy could have sough relief from the requirement to prepare an EIS from Congress, but instead chose to act only though the executive branch.