 |
|
|
************************************************************************** |
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE |
************************************************************************** |
|
|
Judge Orders Bush Administration to Stop Delaying Polar Bear Protection |
|
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, Apr. 29 -/E-Wire/--
A federal judge has found the Bush administration guilty of violating the Endangered Species Act and ordered the administration to issue a final listing decision for the polar bear by May 15, 2008. The polar bear, suffering as its Arctic sea-ice habitat melts, is one of the world’s most imperiled animals due to global warming.
|
The Honorable Claudia Wilken ruled for the plaintiffs — Center for Biological Diversity, NRDC, and Greenpeace — on all issues in finding that the Bush administration has violated the law by missing the deadline for a final polar bear decision by nearly four months. Monday evening’s court order requires the administration to publish a final decision in the Federal Register by May 15, and for the decision to take effect immediately. This decision is the result of a 2005 petition by the groups to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.
|
“Today's decision is a huge victory for the polar bear,” said Kassie Siegel, Center for Biological Diversity climate program director and lead author of the 2005 petition seeking the Endangered Species Act listing. “By May 15th the polar bear should receive the protections it deserves under the Endangered Species Act, which is the first step toward saving the polar bear and the entire Arctic ecosystem from global warming.”
|
The Interior Department had requested an additional delay, until June 30, for its lawyers to review the decision. The Court disallowed further delay, stating: “Defendants offer no specific facts that would justify the existing delay, much less further delay. To allow Defendants more time would violate the mandated listing deadlines under the ESA and congressional intent that time is of the essence in listing threatened species.”
|
“The federal court has thrown this incredible animal a lifeline,” said NRDC’s Andrew Wetzler. “The Endangered Species Act requires the decision to be based solely on science, and the science is absolutely unambiguous that the polar bear deserves protection.”
|
Judge Wilken ordered that the listing decision take effect immediately, forgoing a 30-day waiting period that applies unless circumstances warrant faster action. In rejecting the administration's claim that the polar bear will not be harmed in the absence of Endangered Species Act protection, the judge pointed to a pending proposal to permit oil industry operations in the Chukchi Sea, and stated: “Defendants fail to show that the thirty-day waiting period will not pose a threat to the polar bear.”
|
“We have won in the court of public opinion and of law,” said Melanie Duchin, Greenpeace global warming campaigner in Alaska. “We hope that this decision marks the end of the Bush administration's delays and denial so that immediate action may be taken to protect polar bears from extinction.”
|
Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are dependent on the sea ice for their essential needs. The rapid warming of the Arctic and melting of the sea ice pose an overwhelming threat to the bear, suffering starvation, drowning, and population declines as its sea-ice habitat melts.
|
Since the petition was first filed, new science paints a dim picture of the polar bear's future. The U.S. Geological Survey predicts two-thirds of the world's polar bear population will likely be extinct by 2050, including all polar bears within the United States. Several leading scientists now predict the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer as early as 2012.
|
Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act guarantees federal agencies will be obligated to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out will not jeopardize the bears' continued existence or adversely modify their critical habitat.
|
Contact Info: Kassie Siegel,
|
Center for Biological Diversity,
|
(760) 366-2232 x 302;
|
cell: (951) 951-7972, ksiegel@biologicaldiversity.org
|
Serena Ingre,
|
NRDC,
|
cell: (703) 296-0702;
|
office: 202-289-2378,
|
singre@nrdc.org
|
Jane Kochersperger,
|
Greenpeace,
|
office: (202) 319-2493;
|
cell: 202-680-3798
|
Website : Center for Biological Diversity
|
|
/SOURCE:
|
Center for Biological Diversity |
-0-
|
04-29-2008 |
/CONTACT:
|
Kassie Siegel,
Center for Biological Diversity,
(760) 366-2232 x 302;
cell: (951) 951-7972, ksiegel@biologicaldiversity.org
Serena Ingre,
NRDC,
cell: (703) 296-0702;
office: 202-289-2378,
singre@nrdc.org
Jane Kochersperger,
Greenpeace,
office: (202) 319-2493;
cell: 202-680-3798 |
| /WEB SITE: |
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
|
|
************************************************************************** |
To Transmit Your News Over E-Wire, visit http://www.ewire.com or
call 1-800-343-9013. E-Wire Is Broadcast To Millions Of Readers Worldwide |
************************************************************************** |
|
|
|
|
