Supreme Court to Hear Bush Appeal on Energy Secrets: Administration Claim of Secrecy Is Key Issue

Washington, DC: The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear the Bush
Administration's argument that it is entitled to keep secrets about how
national energy policy was developed with polluting industries. The
Court's decision could finally end the Bush Administration's delaying
tactics and draw attention to their continued efforts to keep the public in
the dark about the influence of energy industries on policy.

"The Bush Administration will have to answer some tough questions," said
David Bookbinder, senior attorney for the Sierra Club. "President Bush is
touting a plan to weaken clean air standards for power plants and he's
still pushing for the failed energy bill which was largely inspired by
these secret meetings. The public deserves to know who actually wrote these
plans."

In July, a three judge panel of the Court of Appeals said the Bush
Administration is subject to "discovery," and must comply with requests for
information from Sierra Club and Judicial Watch about the Cheney Energy
Task Force. These groups are suing the Administration to shed light on how
much influence polluting industries had over the Administration's
destructive energy policy that is the basis for the energy bill. In
rejecting the government's arguments, the Court noted that the
Administration's position would "transform executive privilege from a
doctrine designed to protect presidential communications into virtual
immunity from suit."

The Bush Administration attempted to further delay releasing information
about the secret meetings by asking for a rehearing of the appeal by the
entire court. The Court of Appeals denied their request. The Bush
Administration then asked Supreme Court to hear their appeal.

"We're seeking to hold the Bush Administration accountable for shutting the
public out. The American people have already waited far too long to find
out exactly how energy industries influenced our national energy policy,"
said Bookbinder. "We think the Supreme Court could have rejected the
Administration's arguments out of hand but their taking of the case will
draw attention to the extreme positions the Bush administration has taken,
essentially arguing that they are above the law and immune from the
courts."

Sierra Club is suing Vice President Cheney and the Energy Task Force under
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), seeking an accounting of energy
industry participation in crafting the Bush Administration's destructive
energy policy, which relies on subsidies to polluting and outdated fossil
fuel industries. The District Court ordered the Administration to provide
information about participation from these industries, which the Bush
Administration refused to do, claiming Constitutional immunity from such
inquiries. The District Court rejected that contention, pointing out that
the Administration was attempting to "cloak what is tantamount to an
aggrandizement of Executive power with the legitimacy of precedent where
none exists." The Administration appealed, asking the D.C. Circuit to make
new law that would effectively shield it from any legal scrutiny. The
Circuit Court, Appeals Court and Supreme Court have now all denied their
request.