GRIST TOP STORY OF THE WEEK:

Threat Laid Bear
Polar bears threatened, but drilling in their habitat still OK, says Interior

Polar bears are a threatened species, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced last week — but that doesn’t mean we can’t drill in their habitat! The “threatened” designation means the bear could become endangered if adequate conservation steps aren’t taken; it puts polar bears on the endangered-species list but in effect allows the Interior Department to pick and choose which protections to impose. Interior made clear that those protections will “allow continuation of vital energy production in Alaska.” While the polar bear is being listed specifically because climate change is melting its habitat, the department also took pains to point out that the listing “should not open the door to use of the [Endangered Species Act] to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources.” In fact, the department plans to propose modifying the regulatory language of the ESA to “prevent abuse of this listing to erect a back-door climate policy.”