Getting Federal Government Under Control . . .

A couple of stories in the OD tonight with local impact give some hope that the Federal Government cannot do just anything it wants.

Ruling could block future NYRIs

A lawsuit filed in 2007 by the local organization Communities Against Regional Interconnects (CARI), along with other groups from across the nation, has now taken down the federal law that once gave NYRI a fighting chance.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Tuesday the U.S. Department of Energy had wrongly created “corridors” in which the federal government could trump state law on power-line siting. There were several such corridors designated across the nation.

The court said the Department of Energy did not properly consult the states where the corridors would be located and failed to do environmental reviews of the corridors.

It's one thing to regulate interstate commerce. It's quite another to force it to take place in one's backyard. . . . But isn't the 9th Circuit the one that is most often reversed?

Changes to Map of Oneida Nation reservation reversed

Changes to the U.S. Census maps that increased the Oneida Indian Nation’s reservation from 32 acres to more than 300,000 acres have been reversed, the U.S. Census Bureau confirmed Thursday. . . . 

It turned out that in a routine Census map updating process in 2010, the Nation had requested that the boundaries of its reservation be redrawn to show the full extent of its original reservation, which was established in 1794.

While the Oneidas may be outraged that the map change has been reversed, most of the public was outraged when the change was surreptitiously made . . . and now we find out at the Nation's mere request.  These things impact people.  If changes should be made, the process for making them should be transparent.