Environmentalists disappointed with last week’s ‘threatened’ listing of the polar bear returned to court last Friday to ask a federal judge to reject the actions announced by the U.S. Interior Department.
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council, among other groups, are objecting to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne’s assertion that rules would be put in place to keep the polar bear’s listing from being used to create policies to reduce global warming.
The environmental groups insist that since global warming is the recognized danger threatening polar bears, refusal to address global warming violates the Endangered Species Act.
In addition, the groups want the polar bear to receive the more significant listing of "endangered" as opposed to "threatened." The groups filed an earlier suit to force the Interior Department to make a decision concerning the polar bear’s status.
Kempthorne echoed President Bush’s stance that global warming and greenhouse gas emissions must be addressed by all of the world’s major economies.
He said protection for the bears would include increased research and working with Canada to help the threatened species survive in the wild.
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