Polar Bears Gain ‘Threatened’ Status Under Endangered Species Act

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Polar bears finally caught a break from the government this week after the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne granted them status as a threatened animal under the Endangered Species Act.

As Artic sea ice rapidly melts due to global warming, projections show the polar bear population decreasing by as much as two thirds of its total by the mid twenty-first century.

The decision was watched more closely than similar cases, and hotly debated within the administration, because some hoped the status of polar bears as threatened could affect regulations on corporations that contribute to global warming.

Though gas and oil companies were disappointed by the ruling, as it means that they will have to follow standards under the Act to ensure they don’t contribute to polar bear problems, environmentalists were also not happy with the ruling.

Current Sierra Club director Carl Pope denounced the ruling, telling reporters it was "riddled with loopholes, caveats and backhanded language that could actually undermine protections for the polar bear and other species."

Stipulations were added to the decision that provide protection for the bears without directly linking greenhouse gases to the global warming that is causing the ice to disappear, something environmental groups say makes the decision almost meaningless.

Kempthorne agrees that the decision included guidelines meant to ensure that gas and oil companies wouldn’t face drastic restrictions in their current planning, saying that his ruling "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."

But under current guidelines for the Endangered Species Act, federal agencies that grant permits for activities like hunting or oil drilling are not allowed to "adversely impact" endangered species, so gas companies claim they will be affected.

"To the extent that federal agencies are issuing permits, funding or facilitating projects that generate a significant amount of global-warming pollution, they are going to be held to the consultation requirement," said Andew Wetzler, the Natural Resource Defense Council’s director.

Polar bears use large sheets of floating ice to hunt, travel between land masses, and sometimes even give birth to their young. There have been increased reports of polar bear drownings: as the ice sheets melt and shrink, the bears become exhausted trying to swim between ice chunks and drown.