5.14.2008

This is good news for seals

They actually did it:
The Interior Department has decided to protect the polar bear as a threatened species because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming, officials said Wednesday.
They didn't go all the way to listing it as endangered, but this will cause some serious consternation amongst think tankers and other radicals. First McCain commits high treason, then Kempthorne's EPA lists the white grizzlies as threatened. Tough week.

This should be fun to watch them spin.

Kempthorne:
"I believe this decision is most consistent with the record and legal standards of the Endangered Species Act -- perhaps the least flexible law Congress has ever enacted," said Kempthorne.

"I am also announcing that this listing decision will be accompanied by administrative guidance and a rule that defines the scope of impact my decision will have, in order to protect the polar bear while preventing unintended harm to the society and economy of the United States," he said.
In other words, we couldn't fight the science but I tried to do everything possible to delay and weaken the decision.

That's what you get when you convert the Department of Interior to the Department of Industry.