Earth Equity News

Alaska Sues Over Polar Bear Listing. By Dan Joling, AP, August 4, 2008. "The state of Alaska sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne on Monday, seeking to reverse his decision to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. [Alaska] Gov. Sarah Palin and other state officials fear a listing will cripple offshore oil and gas development in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in Alaska's northern waters, which provide prime habitat for the only polar bears under U.S. jurisdiction. 'We believe that the Service's decision to list the polar bear was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available,' Palin said... Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity, the lead author of the petition... called the lawsuit 'completely ridiculous and a waste of the court's time. This lawsuit and [Gov. Palin's] head-in-the-sand approach to global warming only helps oil companies, certainly not Alaska or the polar bear,' Siegel said. "[She] should be working for sustainable, clean energy development in Alaska instead of extinction for the polar bear.' Kempthorne announced the listing May 14. The process started with the filing of the petition in 2005, a yearlong initial review, another year of public comment and additional studies, and court action to force a final decision. Kempthorne concluded that sea ice was vital to polar bear survival, that sea ice had dramatically melted in recent decades and that computer models suggest sea ice likely will further recede in the future."