Environmental law humor

Clean Water Act mavens may recall the controversy about a year ago when the Army Corps of Engineers determined that the Los Angeles River was not navigable, and therefore did not fall under federal CWA jurisdiction (LA Times story here). A Corps biologist responded by kayaking the river on her day off to prove it was in fact navigable, and was threatened with suspension for her trouble. (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility took up the biologist’s cause and her case was settled with no admission of wrongdoing on anyone’s part. She has left government service with plans to become an environmental lawyer.) EPA subsequently took over the jurisdictional determination, but has yet to announce its conclusion.

So where’s the humor? It comes from The Tonight Show’s Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter, who have put their oars in the water with a bucolic canoe trip. You can watch the result here (warning: you’ll have to sit through an ad before the clip). (Hat tip: Aquafornia.)

Corps of Engineers, humor, navigable waters, tonight show