Timothy Riley

October 3, 2006

The Senate recently passed legislation in the fight against acts of domestic "eco-terrorism." Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) jointly-sponsored the "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act" (S. 3880), a far reaching law designed to protect scientists, ranchers, and farmers from "criminally based" radical animal rights extremists, such as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Sen. Inhofe said in a statement, "This bill is an important step in the effort to combat animal rights extremists' increasingly violent tactics."

As introduced, this bill establishes severe criminal penalties and fines for activists convicted of damaging or interfering with the "operations of an animal enterprise." Specifically, the bill requires a life imprisonment sentence for the death of any individual arising from an eco-terrorist attack. Moreover, even nonviolent obstructionist tactics may bring substantial fines and prison time if the interfering activity causes economic loss, irrespective of whether private or public property was actually damaged or destroyed.

Counter-terrorism experts with the Justice Department and FBI assisted with drafting the legislation. John Lewis, deputy assist director of the FBI's counter-terrorism division, testified before Sen. Inhofe's committee, stating that special interest extremist groups are "one of today's most serious domestic terrorism threats." Other testifying witnesses portrayed acts of eco-terrorism as on the rise, with over 1,200 criminal attacks identified between 1990 and 2004. Perhaps the most vivid attack involved a 1998 ELF cell firebombing of a Vail ski resort causing over $12 million in damages.

For more information:

American Physiological Society, Policy Action Center, http://www.the-aps.org/pa/resources/archives/highlights/AETA.htm

GreenIsTheNewRed, http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/aepa