Polar Bears Listed as Threatened Species under Endangered Species Act
16.05.2008 - Other
A video published on the National Geographic's website reports that the United States Government has agreed to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
US government scientists, after having collected sufficient data through field studies, claim that two-thirds of the estimated 25,000 polar bears could disappear by 2050. This is enough to list the mammal as threatened under the guidelines of the act. If the species' numbers do not recover considerably in the near future, the species' classificationit could become listed asbe changed to "endangered", meaning that it is in danger of extinction and that it requires even further protection.
US Interior Secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, stressed that the US government would take measures ensuring the listing is not "abused". What he wants to avoid is for new policies on climate change to harm the US economy (for example, the Bush administration does not want the listing to impose greenhouse gas emission regulations on new power plants or automobiles or interfere with oil/gas exploration). "While the legal standards under the Endangered Species Act compel me to list the polar bear as threatened," he said, "I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting."
Andrew Wetzler, from the Natural Resources Defense Council, admits that protection of the polar bear is a major step forward. However, this is only a "limited" victory. The Bush
administration has provided loopholes in the law that will enable natural resource exploration to continue its development without polluting industries key to the US economy having to adopt any climate change-related regulations.
