SCOTUS and Navigable Waters

The Washington Post doesn’t like where the Supreme Court seems to be headed on environmental protections: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062500683.html?referrer=email&referrer=email

The interesting thing about the Supreme Court decision for me is that the “conservative” wing voted for a restrictive ruling of what constitutes “waters of the United States” for the purposes of federal protection of wetlands. These guys, whom I have often said never saw an exercise of federal power that they did not like, voted to restrict federal power in this case by a strict reading of what constitutes navigable waters. Presumably, this is because they object to environmental protection and not out of any scruples about the exercise of federal power. If the US was looking to drain these waters or enforce drug laws on them, you can bet Fat Tony and his cadre would fall all over themselves to find that my backyard pond constitutes waters of the US.