Polar bears
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan also concluded that federal officials were within their authority in a rule allowing "incidental" harm to polar bears that might occur as a result of oil and gas activities in the Arctic -- provided that those activities already are authorized under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.The suit was filed by advocates for the polar bears, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Warmer temperatures are shrinking the bears’ primary habitat on the sea ice, making them a focal point in the debate over greenhouse gas emissions. Conservationists argue there is no way to ensure the bears’ survival unless their biggest threat -- global warming -- is attacked, perhaps thousands of miles from where the bears live.
A variety of oil industry and business groups, along with the governor of Alaska Arkansas and the shrinking of the ice footprint in Alaska
The court in its ruling Monday from Washington , D.C.
"The question at the heart of this litigation -- whether ESA is an effective or appropriate tool to address the threat of climate change -- is not a question that this court can decide based upon its own independent assessment, particularly in the abstract," the judge wrote.
"The answer to that question will ultimately be grounded in science and policy determinations that are beyond the purview of this court," he said. "The question this court must decide is whether the agency has articulated a rational basis for the protections set forth in its special rule for the polar bear...The court finds that the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife] Service has done so."
"The polar bear was the first species added to the endangered species list solely because of threats to the species from global warming. Today’s ruling does not limit the applicability of the ESA to greenhouse gas emissions affecting species listed as endangered under the act, or to other threatened species for which Interior has not issued a specific exemption," the plaintiffs noted in a statement.
"Just this summer, Arctic sea ice reached its second lowest level on record, making polar bear protections more important than ever," added Jason Rylander, senior attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. "Only by acknowledging and accounting for the dramatic effects of climate change can this administration give this Arctic icon a realistic chance of survival."
The special rule under challenge also provides an exception from the prohibitions against harm to bears for activities already authorized under the Marine Mammal Protection Act -- essentially, oil and gas exploration and production across the North Slope. Such production has long coexisted with polar bears.
Very few bears have been killed as a direct result of oil and gas production, and Sullivan said it was reasonable to conclude that existing protections are sufficient. Some are even more stringent than the Endangered Species Act.
"We are pleased that the judge decided that the Endangered Species Act is not the proper way to regulate climate change," said Eric Wohlschlegel of the American Petroleum Institute. He declined to say more until lawyers had scrutinized the decision.
The big impact, conservationists say, is that the government will now have to consider the environmental effects of allowing exemptions not only for greenhouse gases, but possibly for pesticides, mercury, PCBs and other pollutants that make their way into the Arctic food chain.
"The real-world impact is the full scope of protections for the polar bear is back in the Obama administration's court," Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity said in an interview. "They have to do the review, they have to reissue the rule, and they're getting a second chance to do things right by the polar bear."