Backhanding the Polar Bear with Oil Drills and Global Warming
Last week the U.S. Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), but the decision was full of language that could actually undermine protections for the polar bear and other species. In the listing documents came these rules (emphasis ours):
Next Steps
To make sure the ESA is not misused to regulate global climate change, (Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne) promised the following actions:
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing a 4(d) rule that states that if an activity is permissible under the stricter standards of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is also permissible under the ESA with respect to the polar bear. This rule, effective immediately, will ensure the protection of the bear while allowing us to continue to develop our natural resources in the arctic region in an environmentally sound way.
- Director Hall will issue guidance to staff that the best scientific data available today cannot make a causal connection between harm to listed species or their habitats and greenhouse gas emissions from a specific facility, or resource development project or government action.
- The Department will issue a Solicitor's Opinion further clarifying these points.
- The Department will propose common sense modifications to the existing ESA regulatory language to prevent abuse of this listing to erect a back-door climate policy outside our normal system of political accountability.
The Department of the Interior wants to let the oil drills keep invading polar bear habitat, but we can't protect the polar bears unless we combat global warming and keep the oil drills out. There is no environmentally-sound way to drill in polar bear habitat. Drilling would inundate habitat with pipelines, well pads, boat traffic, ice-breaking vessels, and seismic blasting, not to mention the ever-present threat of oil spills.
This plan also proposes changes that could gut the Endangered Species Act and prevent it from ever being used to actually protect the polar bear or address global warming - which is precisely what is pushing the bear toward extinction.
Take action to protect the polar bear!
Arizona Goes for Clean Cars
On May 6, Arizona became the 14th state to adopt California’s stricter-than-federal clean car emission standards. According to a joint news release from our Grand Canyon Chapter and the Center for Biological Diversity:
"Under the Clean Car Rule, each automobile manufacturer is required to demonstrate that its fleet of passenger cars and light-duty trucks delivered for sale in Arizona on or after January 1, 2011, meets an average emissions standard for greenhouse gases. It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by about 32 million metric tons from 2012 to 2020 and will also reduce pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone formation, a major issue in Arizona."
Arizona had been working for these standards for years, and supporters said everyone will benefit from this.
Read more about the national fight for Clean Cars.
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