Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Listing the Polar Bear Under the ESA
Could Spell DisasterFrom Peyton Knight: In reaction to the Bush
Administration's deliberation over whether to list the polar
bear under the Endangered Species Act the Natural Resources
Defense Council's Andrew Wetzler claims: "There's no reason for
them not to finalize that decision now." There are big reasons,
one of which may explain the NRDC's zeal for a rush to judgment.
The polar bear population has doubled since 1965, from 10,000 to
20,000-25,000 today. Even the World Wildlife Fund, which
advocates listing the bear, in 2006 said there are "at least
22,000 polar bears worldwide" and "the general status of polar
bears is currently stable." Further, listing the bear could
spawn lawsuits and impose economy-crippling restrictions on
carbon dioxide emissions. Because the ESA makes it a crime to
"harm" a listed animal or its habitat, environmentalists could
sue any public or private entity that emits CO2, which, they
claim, causes global warming a