The Bush administration on Wednesday declared the polar bear a threatened species, saying it must be protected because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming.
Interior Department Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses. These declines, he told a news conference, mean the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future.
Kempthorne also said it would be "inappropriate" to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change.
Reflecting views recently expressed by President Bush, Kempthorne said the Endangered Species Act was "never meant to regulate global climate change."
He said the decision to list the bear includes administrative actions aimed at limiting the impact of the decision on energy development and other climate related activities.
"While the legal standards under the Endangered Species Act compel me to list the polar bear as threatened, I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting," he said at a briefing.
The Sierra Club was among the first conservation groups to criticize the approach, with Executive Director Carl Pope saying it was "riddled with loopholes, caveats, and backhanded language that could actually undermine protections for the polar bear and other species."
"The administration's attempts to reduce protection to the polar bear from greenhouse gas emissions are illegal and won't hold up in court," added Kassie Siegel, climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, and lead author of the 2005 petition that first triggered the Interior Department to study a listing.
Source:Xinhua
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