The Obama Administration cowardly refuses to overturn previous Bush ruling that pre-emPted the Polar Bear from Endangered Species Designation--bowing to Oil interests.............. The doublesepeak rationale below that the Feds use to rationalize this decision can make your head explode, it is so non-clear!

Obama administration says polar bears are threatened not endangered

 

A polar bear rests with her cubs on pack ice in the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska. In court papers filed on Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the animal doesn't qualify as endangered under federal law.

CAPTION

By Steve Amstrup, AP

The Obama administration today confirmed an earlier Bush-era decision that says polar bears are merely "threatened" rather than "endangered." In court papers filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington on Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the animal doesn't qualify as endangered under federal law.The Endangered Species Act (ESA) defines an endangered species as one that "is in danger of extinction," while a threatened species is one which "is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future …"--talk about political double talk and utter B.S.--blogger Rick
"The service arrived at the 2008 decision to list the polar bear as 'threatened' following careful analysis of the best scientific information, as required by the ESA," said acting service director Rowan Gould.In the memorandum filed with the Court today, Fish and Wildlife explained how its biologists had concluded in 2008 that the polar bear was not facing sudden and catastrophic threats, was still a widespread species that had not been restricted to a critically small range or critically low numbers, and was not suffering ongoing major reductions in numbers, range, or both.The decision stopped short of declaring the bears "endangered," a move that would increase protections and make oil and gas exploration more difficult.

Additionally, earlier today, the state of Alaska announced plans to sue the U.S. government for designating a wide swath of the Arctic as a critical habitat for polar bears struggling with the effects of climate change.---Way to go Alaska,,,,you need corrective lenses to reverse this ill-advisd action in the face of hard Science showing the Bears face severe challenges from climate change--blogger Rick

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