| WASHINGTON
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September 11 - In yet another victory for the American public's right to know, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today denied the Bush Administration's latest effort to hide the workings of the secret Cheney Energy Task Force. The Appeals Court decision comes as the controversial energy bill, based on the Bush energy plan, is debated by a Congressional conference committee.
In July, a three judge panel of the Court of Appeals said the Bush Administration is subject to "discovery," and must comply with requests for information from Sierra Club and Judicial Watch about the Cheney Energy Task Force. These groups are suing the Administration to shed light on how much influence polluting industries had over the Administration's destructive energy policy that is the basis for the energy bill currently before Congress. In rejecting the government's arguments, the Court noted that the Administration's position would "transform executive privilege from a doctrine designed to protect presidential communications into virtual immunity from suit."
The Bush Administration attempted to further delay releasing information about the secret meetings by asking for a rehearing of the appeal by the entire court. The Court of Appeals today denied their request by a 5-3 vote.
"It's time for the Bush Administration to stop delaying and fess up to their secret dealings with energy industry," said Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club. "Given that the Congress is currently debating the energy bill, it's more important than ever that Americans know who's deciding their energy future. Today the public is one step closer to knowing how much influence energy corporations had over the Bush Administration's energy plan."
Every American deserves a safe, clean, and affordable energy future. Fortunately, the technologies exist to get us there. But the Bush Administration and Congressional leadership are taking us down the wrong path with a destructive, expensive, and polluting energy bill, now in conference committee. Much of the bill stems from the Bush Administration's Energy Task Force plan.
Sierra Club is suing Vice President Cheney and the Energy Task Force under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), seeking an accounting of energy industry participation in crafting the Bush Administration's destructive energy policy, which relies on subsidies to polluting and outdated fossil fuel industries. The District Court ordered the Administration to provide information about participation from these industries, which the Bush Administration refused to do, claiming Constitutional immunity from such inquiries. The District Court rejected that contention, pointing out that the Administration was attempting to "cloak what is tantamount to an aggrandizement of Executive power with the legitimacy of precedent where none exists." The Administration appealed, asking the D.C. Circuit to make new law that would effectively shield it from any legal scrutiny. The Circuit Court has now twice denied their request.
"It's a shame that the Bush Administration is wasting so much time and money trying to keep secrets from the American people," said Pope. "The signal has been firmly sent by two Courts that the Bush Administration is not above the law."
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