Polar bear at risk because of global warming
Updated
The polar bear has become the first animal to be listed as "threatened" because of global warming.
Presenter: Kim Landers
Speakers: Dirk Kempthorne, Interior Secretary Says It Was A "Difficult" Decision; Kert Davies, Research Director For Greenpeace; Kenneth Green, Resident Scholar And Environmental Policy Expert At The American Enterprise Institute
KIM LANDERS: Polar bears can survive in some of the world's harshest conditions and there are an estimated 20,000 of them in the Arctic region.
Yet a survey by US scientists last year found that up to two-thirds could disappear by mid-century because sea ice is melting due to global warming.
Now the Bush Administration has decided to list the polar bear as "threatened". Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne says it was a "difficult" decision.
DIRK KEMPTHORNE: The loss of sea ice, not oil and gas development or subsistence activities, are the reason the polar bear is threatened.
KIM LANDERS: But the Interior Secretary is making it clear this decision is not a Trojan horse for forcing the Bush Administration into placing mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
DIRK KEMPTHORNE: Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears, but it should not open the door to use the ESA (Endangered Species Act) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants and other sources.
KIM LANDERS: It's a sign that the political tug-of-war over the polar bear is far from over.
Conservationists had wanted the polar bear to be listed as "endangered" and they're considering legal action.
Kert Davies is the research director for Greenpeace. He says the decision to list the polar bear as "threatened" is meaningless.
KERT DAVIES: They made pretty clear that they don't intend to take any action under law through this decision, that they are not going to look at the implications of oil and gas exploration.
Further they said that nothing that the US could do to limit greenhouse gases would affect the melting Arctic, which is a lie.
KIM LANDERS: Kenneth Green is a resident scholar and environmental policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
KENNETH GREEN: I believe it means ultimately more expensive energy. I believe that it's going to impact development of Arctic energy resources.
KIM LANDERS: However the Bush Administration concedes the "threatened" designation means the polar bear is likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future.
