Area or seasonal restrictions are a fair compromise. However, the issue should have been resolved long before, and the Bush Administration shouldn’t have attempted to circumvent environmental regulations. The Bush Administration’s attempt to cherry pick and ignore certain laws sends a dangerous message to corporations and future politicians that environmental regulation isn’t an important or necessary tool for environmental management. These conservatives believe that the markets are infallible and can solve everything, which isn’t true. Regulation is very much needed. Furthermore, litigation is important in environmental regulation because it promotes accountability, solutions, and remedies. From the San Francisco Chronicle, USA:

Scientists say sonar damages the hearing organs of sea mammals, disrupts their lives and has caused many whale species to strand themselves on shores. The Natural Resources Defense Council, a plaintiff in the suit, said Navy studies have found that low-frequency sonar can disrupt whale behavior more than 300 miles away.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a dispute over President Bush’s attempt to exempt the Navy from environmental laws restricting its use of mid-frequency sonar in training exercises off Southern California. Mid-frequency sonar travels shorter distances, but environmental groups say it is more harmful to sea creatures than low-frequency pulses.

Under Tuesday’s settlement, the Navy can use low-frequency sonar only in certain areas near the Philippines and Japan, with seasonal restrictions, and in another region 50 miles north and south of Hawaii, far removed from two Hawaiian sanctuaries for marine life.