Center for Biological Diversity
Bush's May 14th decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species contained a cynical "special rule" designed to prevent the listing from having any impact on global warming.
The administration admitted that the polar bear is spiraling toward extinction due to global warming, but brazenly refused to do anything about it. It even admitted that its goal was to keep the oil wells flowing and the power plants polluting.
Time is short for the polar bear, so with lightning speed the Center for Biological Diversity and its allies at NRDC and Greenpeace hauled the Bush administration back to court on Friday to challenge the "special rule."
When the Center wrote the scientific petition to protect the polar bear in 2005, we expected Bush to use every trick in the book to avoid protecting it. He has, but thus far we've turned him back at every step. We won two previous lawsuits to get this far. You can be sure we'll win this one as well.
Center for Biological Diversity
Arizona Daily Star, Maio 21, 2008
Critics: Polar bear plan must fight global warming
By Dan Joling (Associated Press)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Conservation groups returned to court to challenge Bush administration efforts to help save the polar bear, saying federal officials' refusal to include steps against global warming violates the Endangered Species Act.
In court documents filed late Friday, the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups asked a federal judge to reject Interior Department actions that were announced last week.
Polar bears are threatened with extinction in many areas because of the melting of their sea ice habitat. The groups say greenhouse gas emissions have led to rapid melting in the Arctic.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, facing a court deadline because of the groups' earlier lawsuit, had announced Wednesday that polar bears would be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act...But he rejected the addition of broad steps to reduce greenhouse gases, saying he would not allow the Endangered Species Act to be "misused" to regulate global climate change.
Kassie Siegel, climate director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the administration's proposal "violates both logic and the law" because it did not address the primary threat to polar bears.
Protect a species, one bear at a time - Polar bears need your help now!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Back to Court
Groups renew legal challenge to save polar bear
This Monday, May 22, 2006 file photo
provided by Mary Sage shows a polar bear
watching a whaling crew off shore near Barrow, Alaska.
(AP / Courtesy of Mary Sage, Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage)
Groups renew legal challenge to save polar bear
Updated Wed. May. 21 2008 8:11 AM ETThe Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska
Conservation groups have returned to court to challenge the Bush administration's response to efforts to help save the polar bear.
In court documents filed late last week, the conservation groups argue that U.S. officials are violating the Endangered Species Act for refusing to take steps against global warming.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and other groups are asking a U.S. federal judge to reject limited Interior Department actions that were announced last week.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, facing a court deadline because of the groups' earlier lawsuit, announced last week that polar bears would be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Among the steps he proposed to help them were increasing research and working with Canada to help the bears survive in the wild.
But he rejected the addition of broad steps to reduce greenhouse gases, saying he would not allow the Endangered Species Act to be "misused'' to regulate global climate change.
Polar bears are threatened with extinction in many areas because of the melting of their sea ice habitat. The groups say greenhouse gas emissions have led to rapid melting in the Arctic.
Kassie Siegel, climate director for the CBD, said the administration's proposal "violates both logic and the law'' because it did not address the primary threat to polar bears.
The listing of polar bears under the law is significant, she acknowledged, but the groups want them classified as endangered, a more serious category than threatened.
Joining in the court case were Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council. They announced their new federal court filing on Tuesday.
A message left with the Department of the Interior in Washington was not immediately returned.
Kempthorne said Americans deserve an honest assessment of the costs and benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Quoting President George W. Bush, he said the decision should not be left to "unelected regulators and judges'' who enforce the Endangered Species Act. He also said any real solution requires action by all major world economies. Read More, See More Photos and Read the Comments . . . CLICK HERE
Friday, May 16, 2008
Polar bear not threatened, Canadian panel finds
Polar bear not threatened, Canadian panel finds
Randall Palmer, Reuters
Published: Friday, April 25, 2008; OTTAWA
The polar bear is in trouble in Canada because of overhunting and global warming, but it is not endangered or threatened with extinction, an independent committee advising the Canadian government said Friday. The committee gave the fabled Arctic animals the weakest classification, that of "special concern," but the Canadian government would nonetheless have to develop a management plan to protect them if it agrees with the new label.
Based on the best available information at hand, there was insufficient reason to think that the polar bear was at imminent risk of extinction said Jeffrey Hutchings, chairman of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
"That's not to say that it's not in trouble. A special-concern species is a species at risk in Canada and requires legislative action should the government decide to include this species on the legal list."
Canada has an estimated 15,500 polar bears, roughly two-thirds of the global population. Disappearing summer sea ice is causing a decline in numbers in some areas but other regions are stable and in some the population is rising.
Hutchings said that in addition to global warming and too much hunting, oil and gas activity was also hurting the population.
Federal Environment Minister John Baird has three months to decide on a response. But he said in a statement: "Our government believes that the polar bear is an iconic symbol of Canada. As such, we also believe we have a responsibility to ensure its population is strong and its future is certain." The stronger "threatened" status, if adopted, would have required prohibitions like bans on hunting and destruction of habitat, but Canada's Arctic Inuit people say hunting should continue.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the polar bear as a threatened species but has declined so far to formally do so. Hutchings said he understood it has postponed its decision till the end of June.
The U.S. Geological Survey said last September that two-thirds of the world's polar bears could be gone by mid-century if predictions of melting sea ice hold true.
The Canadian environmental group David Suzuki Foundation said five of Canada's 13 polar bear populations were thought to be in decline. The western Hudson Bay population declined by 22% between 1987 and 2004, it said.
The group called for tougher action to combat global warming in addition to a formal listing under the Species at Risk Act.
Citing dramatic declines in sea ice due to global warming, the United States yesterday declared the polar bear a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act.
The decision was immediately condemned by the territorial government of Nunavut as "based on misinformed public opinion which disregarded sound science and Inuit traditional knowledge."
The announcement by the U. S. Department of Interior came within hours of a court-ordered deadline to make a decision.
Environmental groups had sought that order through a lawsuit they brought after the Department missed its own deadline in January.
"Although the population of bears has grown from a low of about 12,000 in the late 1960s to approximately 25,000 today, our scientists advise me that computer modelling projects a significant population decline by the year 2050," Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told a news conference yesterday. "This, in my judgment, makes the polar bear a threatened species -- one likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future."
Before announcing the decision, Mr. Kempthorne met last week with Canada's Environment Minister John Baird and Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national Inuit orgnanization, and pledged to work together "to ensure that this majestic creature thrives now and in the future."
Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik said yesterday the unintended consequences of the U. S. decision will be "economic hardship in traditional Inuit communities" due to reduced revenue from guiding and outfitting hunting parties. But he said the current quota system for the sport hunt will not be affected, because it was not based on market demand to begin with, but on "a combination of scientific information and Inuit traditional knowledge."
He said his government would have to review the ruling before deciding on a response.
With photogenic cubs that belie the ferocity of their parents, the polar bear --an "apex predator" in scientific terminology -- is a potent icon in the fight against climate change, and it figured prominently in Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth.
Yesterday's decision adds to the media arsenal of climate activists, but Mr. Kempthorne stressed that this designation should not be used as a proxy law to address climate change.
"Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears," Mr. Kempthorne said. "But it should not open the door to use the [Endangered Species Act] to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants and other sources. That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the Endangered Species Act. ESA is not the right tool to set U. S. climate policy."
That clarification drew scorn from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, whose director Carl Pope said the decision is "riddled with loopholes, caveats and backhanded language that could actually undermine protections for the polar bear and other species."
In Canada, the polar bear has no status under the Species at Risk Act. Last month, however, a federal advisory panel designated the polar bear a species of special concern, a less dire rating than "at risk," largely because threats to its welfare vary widely over its range.
Four of 13 Canadian subpopulations are at a high risk of declining by 30% or more over the next three bear generations (36 years), partly due to climate change "but mostly due to unsustainable harvest in Kane Basin and Baffin Bay," the panel reported. The other seven subpopulations, representing nearly half of Canada's 15,500 polar bears, "are projected to be stable or increasing."
The global population of polar bears is estimated at around 25,000, with the others distributed over Alaska, Greenland and Russia.
A key difference between the Canadian and U.S. designations is that the Canadian projections do not account for the possible effects of climate change, whereas the U. S. one is based partly on computer-model projections of sea-ice reductions. As such, it is the first time the Endangered Species Act has been used to protect an animal against threats from climate change.
"My hope is the projections from these models are wrong, and that sea ice does not further recede. But the best science available to me currently says that is not likely to happen in the next 45 years," Mr. Kempthorne said.
jbrean@nationalpost.com
U.S. Lists Polar Bears as Threatened! - WWF Canada
The U.S. government has listed the polar bear as threatened, stating that climate change is destroying vital polar bear habitat, putting the species at risk of extinction. This puts increasing pressure on the Canadian government to recognize and act on the accelerating impacts of climate change on Arctic communities and species, including polar bears.
Why is this important?
Listing the polar bear as threatened clearly acknowledges the unfortunate fact that climate change impacts are already threatening animals and habitats, and illustrates the urgency of preparing for and adapting to a rapidly changing climate.
Further, the threatened species designation commits the U.S. government to provide additional legal protections for the bears, including the conservation of critical habitat and the development of a government-supported recovery plan.
However, yesterday’s victory will be hollow unless it prompts action by both Canada and the U.S. to limit greenhouse gas emissions, which are melting the Arctic sea ice on which polar bears rely.
What does this mean for Canada?
The U.S. decision shows that Canada is increasingly being left behind in the fight against climate change. Canada is still operating under a “business as usual” approach. The federal government is supporting accelerated development of the tar sands and is pushing oil and gas development in the Arctic, all while greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.
This decision by the U.S. to list the polar bear as “Threatened” reinforces the urgency of the three actions that WWF-Canada has called on Prime Minister Harper to take:
- Place a moratorium on new industrial development in areas of high value to polar bears. In particular, stop the June 2nd leasing of areas for oil and gas development in the Beaufort Sea, at least until proper planning has been done to protect sensitive habitats.
- Ensure any hunting for polar bears is fully sustainable.
- Most importantly, quickly stop, then reverse the rise in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, so we are doing our part in the global fight against climate change.
What can Canadians do?
The Canadian government has a chance to respond quickly to yesterday’s recognition of the threats to polar bears. Five huge areas in the Canada’s Beaufort Sea are poised to be leased to companies for oil and gas development. These areas include essential habitat for polar bears, belugas, and bowhead whales. Companies have until June 2nd to bid on the leases, after which the government will award development rights to the highest bidder.
Please take 20 minutes to help protect this vital habitat for belugas, bowhead whales and polar bears. Here’s what you can do, but it must be done no later than May 28:
1. Send a letter to your MP. You can send this directly, but handwritten letters are best and the more personal your letter, the more attention it will be given. Remember to send a copy to Prime Minister Harper. No postage is necessary to write to your MP.
2. Call your Member of Parliament (MP). Speak to the staff or leave a message indicating you would like the government to hold off on awarding oil and gas leases in critical polar bear habitat in and around the Beaufort Sea until management and conservation plans are in place. Always request a response from your MP.
3. Get at least one of your neighbours to write and call your MP. Ask them to join with you and WWF-Canada in this call to hold off on oil development in the Beaufort Sea.
4. Send a copy of your letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
To learn more about polar bears in Canada, visit the WWF polar bear tracker website
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Polar bear added to U.S. threatened species list
A polar bear mother and her two cubswalk along the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Man.
(Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Polar bear added to U.S. threatened species list
Updated Wed. May. 14 2008 4:16 PM ET CTV.ca News StaffOn the eve of a court deadline, the U.S. Interior Department is adding the polar bear to the list of threatened species. This comes after evidence that rising temperatures are causing Arctic Sea ice -- the bears' habitat -- to vanish.
This makes the mighty polar bear the first animal to be listed as endangered or threatened as a result of global warming.
In Canada, polar bears are listed as a species of "special concern." At the moment, Canada has no plans to change the designation, but Wednesday's U.S. move might put more pressure on Environment Minister John Baird to move further on the matter. Dirk Kempthorne, the U.S. Interior Secretary, said he ordered a geological survey that shows even less sea ice this year than earlier models had predicted.
The expected decline in Arctic sea ice could wipe out two-thirds of the polar bear population by 2050. There are an estimated 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic, many of them in the 30 million acres of the Alaska's Chukchi Sea, which is due to be auctioned for oil and gas exploration.
The World Wildlife Federation and other environmentalists have been lobbying the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to add polar bears to the Endangered Species Act ahead of that auction.
The U.S. Interior's report on polar bears says that since the signing of the 1973 Polar Bear Agreement between Canada, Russia, Denmark, Norway and the U.S., the documented impact of the oil and gas industry on the animal has been "minimal."
However, the report acknowledges that as gas and oil operations increase, as does the possibility of an oil spill. The report says the probability of an oil spill is low but could have major effects on polar bears and their prey in the region of the spill.
The U.S. government has argued that closing the Chukchi Sea to oil and gas exploration would lead to higher fuel prices.
The decision on polar bears comes just a day before U.S. court-imposed deadline on the issue.
Read More, See More Photos and Read the Comments . . . CLICK HERE
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Decision on polar bears' status expected Thursday
Polar bears are expertly adapted to the ArcticDecision on polar bears' status expected Thursday
Updated Sun. May. 11 2008 6:14 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Canadian environmentalists and energy companies will be looking to the American government this week for a decision that will affect everything from the economy of remote northern communities to how this country's energy is sold in the U.S. After months of delay, a court order will force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to declare Thursday whether or not it believes polar bears are endangered.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows
"It's coming to a head," said Pete Ewins of the World Wildlife Fund. "The key thing, what are they going to say?'' The wildlife service has been expected since January to make a recommendation on whether the great white bears should come under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
Tired of waiting, several American environmental organizations took the service to court over the delay and a judge has ordered it to make a ruling by Thursday.
That decision will be closely watched in Nunavut, where Inuit guides charge American hunters up to $30,000 for the privilege of shooting a polar bear. An endangered species listing would make it nearly impossible to bring trophies from such a hunt into the U.S., a restriction greatly expected to reduce the number of bear sport hunts in the Arctic. The government of Nunavut has intervened in the U.S., asking the service not to declare the bears endangered. But energy exports to the U.S. could also be affected, says Ewins. Such a listing for polar bears would commit the U.S. to not doing anything that could threaten the species further. Because the main threat to the bears is considered to be habitat loss from climate change, that could make it tougher to sell fuels that produce a higher amount of greenhouse gases, such as oil derived from Alberta's oilsands.
"U.S. programs, policies and financial measures involving the U.S. government that would further jeopardize the survival of polar bears would come under extremely strong scrutiny,'' Ewins said. "Further increases in greenhouse gases, causing the sea ice to melt, would be deemed as clearly in contravention of the Endangered Species Act.''
There have already been legislative moves in the U.S. to restrict the use of oilsands-derived oil. American environmental groups have also pressured users such as the airline industry to avoid it.
"There are huge implications here for the way fossil fuels are used and extracted,'' said Ewins.
American Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, responsible for the Fish and Wildlife service, was in Ottawa last Friday to meet with Canadian Environment Minister John Baird. Officials confirmed that polar bears were on the agenda.
Canada is also deciding what to do about the massive Arctic predator.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada recently said it would recommend the bears remain as a species of special concern. That would oblige Ottawa to address threats to the animal's survival, including climate change, but would give it until 2014 to come up with a management plan for Canada's estimated 15,000 bears.
That's a date by which some scientists believe the Arctic could be completely free of summer sea ice -- the bears' favoured hunting platform. Baird will receive the committee's report in August and will make a decision some time after that.
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