Obama Administration Fails to Protect Polar Bears

Time has expired for Obama's Secretary Salazar to rescind a "special rule" created by the Bush administration that sharply limits protections for the polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Congress gave Salazar until May 9, 2009 to strike the Bush special rule that exempted federal activities from ESA review to protect polar bears, including those that produce greenhouse gases causing habitat to disappear. The Center for Biological Diversity explains:

Salazar ignored strong criticism of the rule and requests to revoke it from more than 1,300 scientists, more than 50 prominent legal experts, dozens of lawmakers, more than 130 conservation organizations and hundreds of thousands of members of the public.

The rule severely undermines protection for the polar bear by exempting all activities that occur outside of the polar bears range from review. The polar bear, however, is endangered precisely because of activities occurring outside the Arctic, namely emission of greenhouse gases and resulting warming that is leading to the rapid disappearance of summer sea ice.

Once again, Big Oil and its powerful lobby has won, as the Bush special rule reduces the protection bears receive under ESA from oil industry activities in the Alaska.

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Posted by Jennifer Lance at May 12, 2009 1:32 AM