A Federal Court ruling requires George W. Bush and his administration to decide if the impact of climate change makes polar bears deserving of protection under the Endangered Species Act, reports The Guardian.
Think Progress calls the ruling "a major victory against Bush's failure to admit the threat of climate change," and charges that "the administration has been fighting to avoid protecting the polar bear since 2005."
As a blogger on conservative website Human Events.com sees it, the campaign to list the polar bear as an endangered species is motivated by a desire to place new restrictions on drilling for oil. If the Department of the Interior does change the bears' protected status, he warns, "more oil will be off limits, deepening America’s dependence on foreign oil and guaranteeing further surges in the price of gasoline."
The Independent reported in March that the Bush administration had repeatedly "gagged" government scientists by directing them to not to speak about climate change or related topics, including polar bears, while traveling on official business. A leaked memo to the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that "This traveller understands the administration's position on climate change, polar bears and sea ice and will not be speaking on or responding to these issues."
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