Saturday, January 17, 2009

Last Minute Spending on the Fence

The Bush administration is engaged in setting regulations and starting new programs that do not exactly please the incoming Obama administration. Much of "11th hour" measures will probably be undone in a few months. One such action is a resolution of a dispute between the Department of Homeland Security and the Interior Department over environmental damage over building "the fence". Much of the land is under the jurisdiction of Interior and impacts on rare and endangered species of animals. At times Interior had stop the progress of the fence temporarily and has been in negotiations with DHS. Now Michael Chertoff, the outgoing Secretary of DHS, announced an agreement with Interior and a commitment of dedicating $50 million for environmental fix up. For environmentalists it's "too little, too late." In her senate hearings Gov. Janet Nepolitano expressed no view on the issue, but is known to be doubtful about the need of a fence. (See NY Times article.)

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