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The polar bear makes endangered list.
The polar bear is finally getting a break and maybe global warming worries have made it possible: The government has declared it a threatened species in need of increased protection. But another round of legal battles surrounding the majestic animal may be just beginning.
The Interior Department put the bear under the protective umbrella of the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday, concluding what biologists have been saying for years—the bear is on the way to extinction because of the rapid disappearance of the Arctic sea ice upon which it depends.
Scientists predict sea ice melting will continue and even accelerate because of global warming.
“This in my judgment makes the polar bear a threatened species, one likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future,” said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, punctuating his point with an array of slides, charts and maps showing the changing ice flows of the Arctic.
But Kempthorne also said that he did not view the increased protection of the bear afforded by the Endangered Species Act as a back door to regulate greenhouse gases coming from power plants, automobiles and industrial sources.
“That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the ESA law,” declared Kempthorne as he outlined a series of administrative and other actions he would take to stop anything like that from happening.
The restrictions, including one that would provide the bear no more protection from oil drilling in Arctic waters than it now has under another federal law, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, prompted environmentalists and some members of Congress to questions whether the bear will get any more protection at all.
“They’re trying to make this a threatened listing in name only with no change in today’s impacts and that’s not going to fly,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark of Defenders of Wildlife and a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Clinton administration.
Three environmental groups whose lawsuit forced the Interior Department to make a decision on the bear’s status, indicated they are preparing to go to court again to challenge some of the provisions Kempthorne outlined.
These measures amount to the bear not getting all the protections it in entitled to under the Endangered Species Act and won’t hold up in court, said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council said the Interior Department’s decision allows loopholes in the law “to allow the greatest threat to the polar bear — global warming pollution — to continue unabated.”
Kempthorne acknowledged that the polar bear — 25,000 of them that roam the Arctic region from Russia and Alaska to Greenland — “poses a unique conservation challenge.” It is the first time in the history of the Endangered Species Act that the law has been used to protect an animal whose nemesis is global warming.
“I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting,” said Kempthorne. “…The ESA is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy.”
Kempthorne sought to assure the business community that the bear’s protection would not keep someone from building a coal-burning power plant or drill for oil in Arctic waters.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded the decision. “It will protect polar bears while also protecting American jobs and businesses,” said Bill Kovacs, the Chamber’s vice president for environmental affairs.
But some business groups weren’t as impressed.
The ruling “will unleash a torrent of lawsuits” by environmentalists and “give them a powerful new legal sledgehammer” against businesses and agricultural operations especially in the West, warned Jim Sims, president of the Western Business Roundtable.
Reed Hopper, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which frequently has challenged the Endangered Species Act in property rights disputes, said he plans to challenge the bear listing as well in court.
The polar bear “already is the most protected (animal) in the world and needs no additional protection,” maintained Hopper. He noted the number of polar bears have more than doubled since the late 1960s from 12,000 to about 25,000 across the Arctic region from Alaska to Greenland.
Interior Department scientists in a series of reports last September that were heavily relied on by Kempthorne in his listing decision, concludes that continuing melting of sea ice will lead to a two-thirds decline in polar bears by mid-century, meaning the disappearance of at least 15,000 bears.
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Maureen Adams
May 16th, 2008 at 2:16 am
[...] WebVet to Launch this Summer * Understanding The Various Types of Dog Coat * Non-disposable Pets * The polar bear makes endangered list * GUESS WHAT?!? * Announcing the “My Doggie Says…” Radio Talk Show * Some Fun Stuff (for [...]
May 16th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Friday Ark #191…
We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and….? Visit all the …
May 16th, 2008 at 7:36 am
“The arctic region from Alaska to Russia to Greenland” eh… why can’t you just say Canada? A story about polar bears with no mention of the Great White North seems…. odd. What seems even more strange is that this post makes it sound like the US was entirely in charge of any initiative to protect the species, and of any policymaking to uphold it. Is the US making laws in Canada, Russia, and Greenland (where the vast majority of bears live) now? Or have all 25000 polar bears suddenly decided to move to tiny little Alaska?
May 20th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Why Do We Care If Polar Bears Become Extinct?
This is not any sort of revelation: Polar bears declared a threatened species , but it does raise the question: Why do we care? By some estimates, 90% of all species that once existed are now extinct and new species are always taking their place. For the species that’s going to become extinct, for whatever reason, extinction is the end of it. However, for the species that remain, is the extinction of another species good or bad? When Europeans first colonized North America, there was an estimated five (5) billion Passenger Pigeons alive and well in North America. In 1914, they were extinct. Passenger Pigeons didn’t live in little groups, but huge flocks that required extraordinary quantities of hardwood forests for them to feed, breed and survive. Deforestation to build homes, create farmland and over hunting for cheap food decimated their population. The westward drive to grow the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s was incompatible with the needs of the Passenger Pigeon and they literally could not survive in the new North America being carved out by the U.S. economy. The interesting thing about the Passenger Pigeon was the impact its extinction had on another species—man. That impact was essentially none. Man continued to find ways to feed himself through agriculture and other technologies and the United States and its citizens continued to prosper from the early 20th century till today. Whether or not Polar Bears become extinct because of Global Climate Change or other reasons, we need to address the larger question of: Do we care and why? One of the ways a nation, its citizens and the global community can answer that question is addressed by John A. Warden III in Thinking Strategically About Global Climate Change. He asks some interesting biodiversity questions in his post to include How Many Species Is the Right Number and Which Ones?
May 20th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Laura and Sun Tzu, both thought provoking comments.
Right after reading Sun Tzu’s POV I came across a global warming post which I am going to make mention here as these issue go hand in hand on this post. This article also alludes to the human-animal-resource equation. We better keep talking and asking good questions about these issues.
The post, Is the Climate Change tide finally turning? found at Biodynamic Treechange
May 28th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
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June 11th, 2008 at 10:12 am
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June 25th, 2008 at 10:29 am
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July 16th, 2008 at 7:03 am
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July 23rd, 2008 at 8:45 am
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September 17th, 2008 at 11:30 am
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November 27th, 2008 at 11:42 am
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