I’d make some qualifications to the Hogberg and Kafkova piece on green opposition to Roberts.
First, it is important to note that many of the environmental objections to Roberts are based on a sloppy interpretation of his Rancho Viejo opinion. Roberts did not so much question whether activity threatening the “hapless toad” could be regulated as he questioned the poor reasoning of the D.C. Circuit’s opinion–reasoning that conflicted with that of other circuits. While I believe there is a basis to question reach of the ESA under the commerce clause, Roberts’s opinion did not directly address the question. I’ve discussed this before on NRO’s Bench Memos (see here and here). Suggesting or implying that the environmental critique is factually accurate (even though misguided) misrepresents Roberts opinion. The simple fact is we do not know his views on the limits of the commerce clause.
Second, I’m not sure about the article’s emphasis on Deep Ecology. For instance, while Deep Ecology folks like the ESA, I’m not sure it’s accurate to say the the ESA is the result of the deep-ecology worldview. Deep Ecology was not yet influential when the ESA was enacted. Moreover, the ESA would not contain exemptions for threats to human life and disease-bearing insects were that the case. More broady, while the Foundation for Deep Ecology is a bad outfit, I don’t think they’re that big a player. One million dollars in grants? That’s nothing. And it’s grants over the last several years to the environmentalist groups are even more paltry. I think it takes more than that to document a link between Deep Ecology and mainstream environmentalists groups. The article is certainly correct that there are many problems with the ESA (including its environmental effects), but I don’t think a purported link to Deep Ecology is the cause.