For years, environmental groups have argued that the Navy’s high-intensity, submarine-tracking sonar can disorient or even kill whales and other marine mammals. They say the problem is especially bad off the coast of Southern California, where the Navy conducts frequent sonar training missions. Earlier this year, a federal court barred the use of the sonar close to marine mammals. Vice Admiral Sam Locklear, commander of the Third Fleet, calls those restrictions “crippling”. “Active sonar today is the only effective means we have available to detect, track and target modern submarines under all ocean’s conditions.” The Bush administration appealed the restrictions and the Supreme Court has now agreed to review the case. The Natural Resources Defense Council says it will try to convince the high court to maintain the restrictions, which it believes are vital for the well-being of dozens of species of marine mammals. Martin Kaste, NPR News.
Constitutional showdown(confrontation) between President Bush and the Congress landed in a DC federal court today. At issue(at dispute) is whether two top White House aides should be forced to cooperate with a congressional investigation into whether US attorneys were fired for political reasons. NPR’s Debbie Elliott reports.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have settled on the location for their first joint general election appearance since Clinton endorsed Obama in the presidential race. The former rivals will appear together in Unity, New Hampshire on Friday.
On Wall Street, the Dow fell a fraction（一点） today. This is NPR News.
A Harvard University study is painting a bleak picture of the nation’s housing market. The analysis says because of the record number of properties in foreclosure and continued difficulties in assessing credit, any recovery from the worst housing slump in decades is likely to be slow. The Center for Housing Studies says a two-year drop in house prices is eroding consumer wealth, cutting into spending and making it unlikely buyers will jump into the housing market until they’re convinced that prices have stopped falling.
New coalition of business and labor groups says the country must dramatically increase spending on transportation even if it means raising the gas tax. NPR’s Kathleen Schalch reports.
Tom Donohue, President of the US Chamber of Commerce（美国商务部）, says the nation is failing to keep pace with its transportation needs and this is having a dramatic impact “on everything from safety to the environment, from quality of life to economic growth. And the evidence is beyond question”. He says a third of traffic fatalities are linked to poorly-maintained roads. And every year, Americans waste nearly three billion gallons of gas and 4.2 billion hours of their time sitting in traffic jams. “We want faster, better, safer transportation infrastructure. And the bottom line is we gotta pay for it.” Donohue’s group generally favors lower taxes, but here’s his reaction to a proposed gas tax holiday: “I think it’s a stupid idea.” In fact, with the Highway Trust Fund running out of money, he says, politicians may have to raise taxes on gasoline. Kathleen Schalch, NPR News, Washington.
Oil prices moved higher. The price of light sweet crude oil for August delivery rose $1.38 a barrel today, ending the session at $136.74 a barrel in New York.
最近爱上ＮＰＲ了～～
posted on 2008-06-24 22:11
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