Conservation groups sue to force polar bear decision
Published Monday, March 10, 2008
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!ANCHORAGE — Three conservation groups sued the Department of the Interior on Monday for failing to meet a deadline on a decision to list polar bears as threatened because of the loss of Arctic sea ice.
A decision was due Jan. 9, one year after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the animals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Agency Director Dale Hall said in January that a delay was needed to make sure the polar bear decision was in a form easily understood. But two months later, agency officials still have not announced a decision and conservation groups claim the loss of sea ice due to global warming is accelerating.
Kassie Siegel, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity and the lead author of the 2005 petition that sought the listing, said the Bush administration seems intent on slamming shut the window of opportunity available to save polar bears.
“Doing nothing means extinction for the polar bear. That’s what the administration is doing — nothing,” she said.
Her group, the Natural Resource Defense Council and Greenpeace Inc., asked the federal court in San Francisco to order administration officials to make the decision.
“We routinely get such court orders in these cases,” she said.
Bruce Woods, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman in Anchorage, said the agency was expecting the lawsuit when the groups were eligible to file it 60 days after announcing an intent to do so. He said he could not comment on pending legal action.
“We are still working as fast as we can to get the decision announced,” he said.
Alaska has the only two polar bear populations in the United States, the Beaufort Sea group off the state’s north coast and the Chukchi Sea group, shared with Russia, off Alaska’s northwest coast.
Polar bears depend on sea ice for hunting seals and most females in the Beaufort population use sea ice for denning and giving birth.
Summer sea ice last year shrunk to a record lows, about 1.65 million square miles in September, nearly 40 percent less ice than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000. Some climate models have predicted the Arctic will be free of summer sea ice by 2030. A U.S. Geological Survey study predicted polar bears in Alaska could be wiped out by 2050.
Andrew Wetzler of the National Resources Defense Council said the Endangered Species Act was unambiguous and the Fish and Wildlife Service was required to make a polar bear decision.
“Now it’s up to a federal court to throw this incredible animal a lifeline,” Wetzler said.
A decision to list polar bears due to global warming could trigger a recovery plan that has consequences beyond Alaska.
Opponents fear it would subject projects such as new power plants to review if they generate greenhouse gasses that add to warming in the Arctic. Conservation groups hope that’s the case.
“We believe if and when the polar bear is listed, all federal agencies approving major sources of greenhouse gas emissions will have to look at ways to reduce those emissions to protect polar bears,” Siegel said.
The Interior Department’s inspector general last week announced a preliminary investigation into why the department had not made its listing decision.
A spokesman for the department’s inspector general’s office said a case had been opened in response to a letter from environmental groups. He said the preliminary inquiry would determine whether a full-fledged investigation was warranted.
The conservation groups claim that Fish and Wildlife Director Hall violated the agency’s scientific code of conduct and the Endangered Species Act in delaying the decision after all the scientific data had already been developed and sent to Washington before Christmas.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
A federal tax on greenhouse gases replacing the revenue lost from eliminating the inefficient corporate income tax seems like the best solution to global warming. Using the Endangered Species Act seems like a lame way to combat global warming. I like polar bears but they do not have infinite value. Neither does any other species.
It is not just the issue of polar bears; seals also are being affected because they feed in the shallower water near the ice. Since the ice has retreated to waters that are very deep, there is no feed for seals, hence no food for bears. This is a holistic system that reverberates throughout the natural system, eventually affecting all sea life.
May I recommend that readers do a little research on this subject and see what the enormous ramifications are? This issue is just a little piece of the big puzzle.
On the positive side, it wouldn't take much to turn this all around. We waste about 40% of the energy we generate to poor conservation measures. Just a few good conservation measures would reduce greenhouse gases tremendously. We need political leadership to move us this direction or else, yes, you will see litigation being used to solve it.
what a joke--who says polar bears are endangered?? there is more now than in a long time--do ya think changing your light bulbs is gonna stop this fake global warming hoax?? if you are so concerned about it go bitch at the chinese and india and russia--those are the real polluters.. and if you dont think polar bears and man cannot coexist take a trip to churchill, manitoba
warning... this legislation or court decision is a blank check. do not sign it. it will be a disaster for humans. these so called "conservation" groups are merely traitors to their own species.
at least wait a couple more years. i think we'll see the arctic sea ice growing back towards normal levels each year now. but if this endangered species thing gets passed, we'll never get it off the books again. besides, if the polar bears are that fragile, maybe it is time for them to go anyway.
Good lord, it is not any of the above, it's OIL,OIL...
We don't need outsiders to tell us how to manage Alaska wildlife. All that would result is the villages would be prohibited from shooting nuisance bears. Plus, the feds would likely try again to turn our people against other along racial lines. The outsiders should stay out.
totally agree with polarmark. not everything we have done is up to us, even if we have made a considerable dent on the planet. it hasn't even been considered that "global warming" is just part of the way nature itself is, a cycle of weather that eventually will plateau. instead celebrities and big names have jumped on the band wagon with the media to blow it out of proportion...including al gore, of course ;)
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.