The refusing to substitute its judgment for the responsible agency's the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
ruled on Friday the Fish & Wildlife Service used reasonable decision making by listing the polar bear
{Ursus maritimus} as only "threatened" by global warming. The Arctic ice cap is melting rapidly making it near impossible for the bears to hunt seals. Conservation groups want the bear declared "endangered" so it can receive the benefit of the highest level of protection under the Endangered Species Act. The agency conducted a three year review of the polar bears plight and concluded it was likely to become endangered in the future. Melting ice cap will kill a third of existing polar bears thought to number 20,000-25,000 according to one estimate. Oil companies definitely do not want increased protection for the bear since habitat would have to be set aside for it and that action could interfere with their plans to drill for oil. Oil companies are already
exempted from incidental taking of small numbers of walruses and bears under a regulation upheld by the Ninth Circuit in August 2012. This latest ruling demonstrates the plutocracy's
concerted effort to keep an ice free Arctic region open to exploitation for oil. In
US Person's humble opinion that policy was confirmed when the oil patch Charlatan, and Alaska's wild woman Sarah Palin, opposed efforts to control warming to preserve Arctic habitat for wildlife. Their tortured reading of the Endangered Species Act motivated by potential oil profits was
upheld by a federal court, and the current administration decided to keep the Section 4(d) rule challenged by conservation organizations.
