New Act Puts Polar Bear in List of Threatened Species

Global warming has claimed another victim, apparently. The U.S. government has officially placed the polar bear on the list of threatened/endangered species, thereby ensuring it gets the necessary additional protection required for its survival.

Confirming what biologists have been stating for long – that the rapid rate at which the Arctic sea ice, on which the bear depends for survival and living conditions, would finally result in the species becoming extinct – the Interior Department brought the polar bear under the aegis of the Endangered Species Act.

The predictions of scientists are forbidding in the context of global warming: they have been saying that global warming would result in the continued disappearance of the sea ice, adding there was even a possibility of the process gathering speed over time.

Speaking about the decision to bring the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said, “This in my judgment makes the polar bear a threatened species, one likely to get in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future.” He used slides, charts and maps, all depicting the change in ice flow in the Arctic region, to make his case.

However, there is another perspective, which states that bringing the polar bear under the ESA would become a back door to monitor the emission of greenhouse gases by automobiles, industries and power plants. Kempthorne said, “That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the ESA law.”

He indicated there would be there would be a number of actions, administrative and otherwise, to ensure such a thing did not happen. These steps include providing no extra protection to the bear from oil drilling initiatives in the waters of the Arctic than is now currently given under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

This has raised concerns among members of Congress and also environmentalists about the kind of protection the bear would actually be getting. Speaking about the new initiative, Jamie Rappaport Clark from Defenders of Wildlife and a director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Clinton, said, “They’re trying to make this a threatened listing in name only with no change in today's impacts and that's not going to fly.”

In the end, the new initiative from the Interior Department could just lead to further legal wrangles of which the bear has been the focus. This seemed a distinct possibility when three environmental groups said they were ready to challenge some of the provisions of the new initiative in court. These groups had earlier filed a lawsuit that had resulted in the Interior Department taking the current initiative.

However, the decision of the Interior Department also had its share of applause, especially from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Speaking on the issue, the vice president for environmental affairs at the Chamber Bill Kovacs said, “It will protect polar bears while also protecting American jobs and businesses.”

There were also rumblings from within the business community itself, with some saying the new act will allow environmentalists to flood the courts with lawsuits and ‘provide them with a powerful legal sledgehammer’ against businesses and agricultural outfits.

Kempthorne has been working towards providing assurances to the business community that the new laws, while ensuring protection for the bear, would not infringe on someone who wanted to engage in business ventures in the Arctic.