Judges Take Heat Off Cheney in Row Over Energy

The US supreme court delivered a blow to environmentalists yesterday when it refused to compel the vice-president, Dick Cheney, to release documents from a controversial energy task force that called for more oil and gas drilling and a revived nuclear energy programme.
Environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club which brought the suit, had accused Mr Cheney, a former executive of the Halliburton energy company, of working with other industry executives to produce recommendations which called for oil drilling in Arctic wildlife refuges and the loosening of regulations on nuclear power plants.

A federal court had backed the accusation, ordering Mr Cheney to identify advisers to a task force on energy policy set up three years ago, amid strong criticism of White House secrecy about the panel.

But, in a 7-2 decision, that ruling was overturned. The supreme court acknowledged that the White House needed a veil of secrecy to be sure of getting independent advice.

"Special considerations applicable to the president and the vice-president suggest that the courts should be sensitive to requests by the government," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy.

However, the court kept the case alive by referring the matter to the court of appeal. That allowed both the White House and the Sierra Club to claim victory yesterday.

"We see it as a setback in that the public is still in the dark about what happened," said Sanjay Narayan, an attorney for the Sierra Club. "It is not a defeat in that the vice-president was asking the supreme court to get rid of the case, and instead the supreme court has left the door open for us."

The decision buys the administration time. If it loses in the appeal court, it can return once more to the supreme court before having to release potentially damaging information.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "We believe the president should be able to receive candid advice from his staff and advisers. It's an important principle."

The Sierra Club alleges that Mr Cheney formulated his industry-friendly policy with executives such as Enron's Kenneth Lay during private meetings in early 2001.

Since January, however, the focus has switched to the friendship between Mr Cheney and a supreme court justice, Antonin Scalia, who was a guest of the vice-president on hunting excursions. Mr Scalia was one of two judges who went further than yesterday's judgment and said the federal judge should be ordered to rule for the government.

Mr Scalia and Mr Cheney had dinner together last November as the supreme court was considering intervention. In January, three weeks after the court took up the case, Mr Scalia went on a duck-hunting trip with the vice-president, provoking widespread protest.

In a reply to critics last month, the judge argued his judgment remained clear. The two had not discussed the case, he said, adding: "If it is reasonable to think that a supreme court justice can be bought so cheap, the nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined."