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.
Governor Sarah Palin and other state officials fear a listing would 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 US 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 in announcing the lawsuit.
Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity, the lead author of the petition that led to the listing, said US Fish and Wildlife Service scientists addressed skeptics’ objections during the listing process. She called the lawsuit “completely ridiculous and a waste of the court’s time.”
“This lawsuit and her head-in-the-sand approach to global warming only helps oil companies, certainly not Alaska or the polar bear,” Siegel said. “Governor Palin should be working for sustainable, clean energy development in Alaska instead of extinction for the polar bear.”
Kempthorne announced the listing on 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.
Summer sea ice last year shrank to a record low, about 4.27 million square kilometers, nearly 40 percent less than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington, claims the federal analysis did not adequately consider polar bear survival through earlier warming periods centuries ago.
Alaska objects to the conclusion that polar bears could be endangered within the “foreseeable future,” a timeline the Fish and Wildlife Service put at 45 years, or three generations of polar bears. The state called that number arbitrary.
The state says there are no real differences between the bears in the 19 subpopulations identified in Kempthorne’s decision and that the population as a whole is healthy. That would undermine the argument that ice loss off Alaska would affect world polar bear population.
The lawsuit contends federal officials did not consider the best scientific evidence demonstrating bears’ ability to survive and adapt to changing climate conditions.
That view is rejected by most polar bear experts, who say the animals need ice to hunt seals and will not win a territory fight with grizzly bears in northern Alaska.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS