WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - A study of federal court rulings over the past decade reveals a pattern of anti-environmental judicial actions threatening existing environmental protections, the Natural Resources Council reports.
   
As Senate hearings proceeded for President Bush's judicial nominees, American Indians and other environmental action groups announced they would increase efforts to monitor the president's choices for the federal bench.
  
"The decisions they make affect everything we do," Spokane Business Chairman Alfred Peone said late last month as Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephene Breyer visited his nation and the Navajo Nation in Arizona as guests of the National Association of Tribal Courts.
   
"There are currently 112 vacancies on the federal bench, giving President George W. Bush an immediate opportunity to significantly shape the federal judiciary," the Natural Resources Council said.
   
"Bush has named as 'model' judges Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas - both cited in the report for promoting anti-environmental activism."
   
An analysis of federal rulings from the last 10 years found "that a group of highly ideological judges - most appointed by former Presidents Reagan and Bush - has disregarded norms of judicial conduct to shape a new judicial philosophy that threatens core environmental protections."
   
American Indians and other environmentalists expressed concern that if Bush's appointees follow in the footsteps of his father's and Ronald Reagan's, they will dismantle federal statutes passed by Congress and further limit the ability of citizens to file suit against polluters and maintain tribal sovereignty.
   
"The judicial appointment process is rarely thought of as an environmental issue, but it should be," said Buck Parker of Earthjustice. "Federal judges play a critical role in the implementation and enforcement of the laws that protect our nation's clean water, clean air, communities and special natural places."
   
The analysis was conducted by the Alliance for Justice, Community Rights Counsel and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
   
For the first time, environmental groups scrutinized judicial appointees. A dozen national environmental organizations, led by Earthjustice, urged the U.S. Senate to consider the views of nominees on issues related to environmental protection, including citizens' access to the courts.
   
"In pursuit of anti-environmental activism, judges have repeatedly ignored basic principles of judicial fairness to shut citizens out of the courthouse and create new rights for polluters," said Greg Wetstone of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
   
"We will be urging our senators to look for judges who won't ignore the rule of law and substitute their personal views for democratically adopted environmental laws."
   
Nan Aron of Alliance for Justice said, "These judges are striking down long-standing safeguards for our air, water and land, even though these laws enjoy overwhelming support from the American people."
   
Wetstone said over the past decade, federal judges have used legal maneuvers to undermine environmental protections guaranteed under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and other laws.