Polar Bears Not Worth Trip to Capitol Hill

Update: A federal judge in Oakland ruled that the Department of Interior is in violation of the Endangered Species Act and cannot delay any longer a decision to list the polar bear as an endangered species. She gave the Department until May 15th to issue a final decision. The decision was due January 9th, but the Regime asked for a delay until June after oil and gas leasing in the Chukchi Sea was completed. The court ruled that the Department failed to show any reason for extension or further delay, waived a thirty day notice requirement, and noted that there is an oil industry operations permit pending before the Department.

[first post 4/4/08]
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne "respectfully declined" to attend Senator Barbara Boxer's hearing to find out why the department has not yet made a decision to to list the polar bear as a threatened species in response to petitions filed more than three years ago by conservation groups. The polar bears' sea ice habitat is shrinking due to global warming and may be polluted by offshore oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea. Exploration in the arctic sea was approved in February despite sharp opposition by environmentalists. The deadline for a decision on the species' listing was January 9th. Other witnesses at the hearing testified that a polar bear's exposure to crude oil is basically fatal since it depends on its fur coat and fat layers to insulate itself from the frigid waters in which it hunts for food. Bears also ingest toxic crude in an attempt to clean themselves of the sticky sludge. About one-fifth of arctic bears obtain their food from the sea. The absent secretary justified his refusal to attend the hearing by saying he could not comment on matters in litigation since he had been sued by a conservation group attempting to obtain compliance with the Endangered Species Act.
[photo: WWF]