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I was really surprised to read this morning that acting EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson plans to attend an event sponsored by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in an activist effort to block a gold mine in Alaska. While this sort of private passion is all well and good in the private sector, it doesn’t have a place in the public sector. In the public sector, America needs Lisa P. Jackson to have the wisdom and character of Solomon instead of pushing her personal agenda in such public view. In our public officials, I expect neutrality, I expect pragmatism, and I expect exemplarism — leading by example and maintaining a strong sense of integrity, commitment to the public good, and a focus on America’s greater interests.
Here are some articles from this morning going into more detail about the event tonight and about the issue at hand, one from Politico PRO (via email), one from the National Review, and one from Politico proper:
Politico PRO: Justice O’Connor, EPA’s Jackson to appear at anti-mine event by Patrick Reis
PA Administrator Lisa Jackson and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor are headlining a campaign this week to block a massive Alaska gold mine near one of the world’s largest salmon runs.
O’Connor is hosting an invitation-only reception at the Supreme Court building Thursday for a coalition of conservationists, commercial fishers, sport anglers and Alaska natives who are in Washington this week to ask the Obama administration to ban the potential gold mine near Bristol Bay.
Jackson is scheduled to speak at the event, giving advocates access to the administration official who has the power to put that ban in place.
For years, mining companies Anglo American Plc and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. have been exploring the “Pebble Mine project,” a potential open-pit gold and copper mine near the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The partnership has not formally proposed to build a mine and insists that any mine it does build would be designed to protect the environment.
But the opponents say any mine would pollute the watershed that salmon depend on. They want the EPA to issue a pre-emptive veto of the Clean Water Act permit that the mine would need to go forward. The agency agreed in February to study the site to see how mining would affect the salmon fishery.
Politico: Previewing Obama’s energy speech – Stabenow offers third Dem EPA alternative – White House lobbyist departs for Entergy by Josh Voorhees & Darren Samuelsohn (Additional reporting by Robin Bravender, Patrick Reis and Darren Goode)
BIG FISH – Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is hosting an invitation-only reception this evening to bolster opposition to a potential gold mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to the one of the world’s largest salmon runs. O’Connor will host a delegation of Alaskan salmon advocates – including environmental groups, commercial fishing outfits and Alaska natives – who are in town this week to ask EPA to pre-emptively block multinational mining outfit Anglo American from building an open-pit gold mine in the bay’s headquarters. They may get to take their case straight to the top, as a source tells POLITICO’s Patrick Reis that Lisa Jackson will attend the event as well.
National Review: More Fishy Political Activity by Justice O’Connor by Ed Whelan
Whether rightly or wrongly, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor maintains that she now has senior status and can sit on lower-court cases. Yet she somehow feels free to engage in crass political activity that is inconsistent with the Code of Conduct for United States Judges.
I would think that everyone would agree that O’Connor’s latest instance of political misconduct is especially fishy. According to Politico:
O’Connor is hosting an invitation-only reception this evening to bolster opposition to a potential gold mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to the one of the world’s largest salmon runs. O’Connor will host a delegation of Alaskan salmon advocates – including environmental groups, commercial fishing outfits and Alaska natives – who are in town this week to ask EPA to pre-emptively block multinational mining outfit Anglo American from building an open-pit gold mine in the bay’s headquarters. They may get to take their case straight to the top, as a source tells POLITICO’s Patrick Reis that [EPA head] Lisa Jackson will attend the event as well.
Fish jokes aside, how is it that a sitting federal judge (or, more precisely, someone who believes herself to be a sitting federal judge) can somehow imagine that it is proper for her to help organize a political campaign aimed at influencing a federal agency?
