US Supreme Court sends energy case back to lower court

Washington (Platts)--24Jun2004

The US Supreme Court Thursday refused to order the Bush administration to make
public details about Vice President Dick Cheney energy task force, voting 7-2
to instead send the case back to a lower court. 

By remanding it back to a lower court, the decision keeps alive the case,
which was brought by The Sierra Club, a liberal environmental club, and
Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group. The groups argued that top members
of the oil, nuclear and coal industries were present at the closed-door
meetings of the task force, which met in early 2001 to draft the Bush
administration's energy policy, but that environmental groups were excluded.
The government claimed that forcing release of the documents would be a
violation of the separation of powers clause of the Constitution, and said it
would set a dangerous precedent and impair the ability of the president to
receive candid advice from his advisers.

Copyright © 2004 - Platts

Please visit:  www.platts.com

Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.