Delay in Bush Administration Polar Bear Policy Stirs Probe

[babylonsister]

Delay in Bush Administration Polar Bear Policy Stirs Probe
by H. Josef Hebert




The Interior Department’s inspector general has begun a preliminary investigation into why the department has delayed for nearly two months a decision on listing the polar bear as threatened because of the loss of Arctic sea ice.

A recommendation to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne was to have been made in early January by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whether to declare the bear threatened. But when the deadline came, the agency said it needed another month, a timetable that also was not met.

A spokesman for the department’s inspector general’s office said a case had been opened in response to a letter from several environmental groups. He said the preliminary inquiry would determine whether a full-fledged investigation is warranted.

“The letter had specific allegations … (so) we started an initial inquiry,” said Kris Kolesnik, associate inspector general for external affairs. “If the initial inquiry produces something that warrants us to take further action, that’s when we open an investigation.”

Scientists have said the bear is under a growing threat because of the significant loss of Arctic sea ice due to global warming.

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http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/08/7565/