HUFFINGTON POST: Obama Administration Will Stick With Bush Climate Ruling

[BigBearJohn]

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, which promised a sharp break from the Bush White House on global warming, declared Friday it would stick with a Bush-era policy against expanding protection for climate-threatened polar bears and ruled out a broad new attack on greenhouse gases.

To the dismay of environmentalists, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar refused to rescind a Bush administration rule that says actions that threaten the polar bear's survival cannot be considered when safeguarding the iconic mammal if they occur outside the bear's Arctic home.

The rule was aimed at heading off the possibility that the bear's survival could be cited by opponents of power plants and other facilities that produce carbon dioxide, a leading pollutant blamed for global warming.

The Endangered Species Act requires that a threatened or endangered species must have its habitat protected. Environmentalists say that in the case of the polar bear, the biggest threat comes from pollution _ mainly carbon dioxide from faraway power plants, factories and cars _ that is warming the Earth and melting Arctic sea ice.

Salazar agreed that global warming was "the single greatest threat" to the bear's survival, but disagreed that the federal law protecting animals, plants and fish should be used to address climate change.

SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/08/government-must-decide-wh_n_199796.html

[babylonsister]

1. Okay, now this admin hates polar bears and the environment.

There must be a good reason. I hope someone posts one. This didn't come out of the ether.

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. Not overturning the Bush-era bear ruling...

..under the ESA does not equal "rule out a broad new attack on greenhouse gases."

EPA, not ESA, will be the vehicle used to spearhead changes in the regulatory regime, and lead to broad CO2-reduction measures. They don't want to pin the whole operation on one species of charismatic megafauna.

It is, as Secretary Salazar said, (of whom I am no great fan) a matter of a choice of tools.

And no, the administration does not hate polar bears and the environment.

[villager]

7. Not much affinity for wild critters, though: They allowed Buscho's wolf killing to stand, as well

stripping ESA protection from them....

[Lorien]

3. Hey Salazar; global warming is "the single greatest threat" to OUR

survival, you greed driven corporate whore moron! :grr:

[NYC_SKP]

4. Another Flamebaiting Huffington Post Hit Piece. :puke:

There are sound reasons behind Salazar's position on this specific ruling.

"Salazar noted that he has overturned a string of Bush-era regulations, including last week restoring a requirement that agencies consult with the government's most knowledgeable biologists when taking actions that could harm species. "We must do all we can to protect the polar bear," he said, but that using the species protection law "is not the right way to go."

The way to deal with climate change is a broad cap on greenhouse gases, he said."

But it's not going to be understood by the masses at either end of the political spectrum, including Barbara Boxer and Sarah Palin.

:patriot:

[BigBearJohn]

5. Top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee praised Salazar

"The single greatest threat to the polar bear is the melting of Arctic Sea ice due to climate change," Salazar said in a conference call announcing the decision. But the Endangered Species Act "is not the appropriate tool for us to deal with what is a global issue," he added.

Like Bush administration officials before them, Interior officials said it would be impossible to directly link any one factory or power plant to the decline in polar ice, and thus impractical to regulate their emissions.

Environmental groups promised to sue.


"It just doesn't make any sense to recognize that the polar bear is threatened and then exempt the primary threat to the species," said Noah Greenwald, biodiversity program director for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Andrew Wetzler, who directs the endangered species project for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the decision was illegal and that the group would "continue to fight it in court."

Energy industry groups celebrated Friday, as did many Republicans.

"The Endangered Species Act is not the proper mechanism for controlling our nation's carbon emissions," said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute.

Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington, the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, praised Salazar for what he called "a common-sense decision that will ensure more jobs are not lost due to excessive regulations of greenhouse gases by the government."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-polar-bear9-2009may09,0,4415244.story

[NYC_SKP]

6. Jack Gerard is right on this one.

The Endangered Species Act was never intended to be used as a tool to legally shut down activities thousands of miles and continents away.

It's wishful thinking, it's the wrong tool to use, and this misuse could threaten the Act itself.

Any attempt to use it in this far reaching manner would just wind up in years of litigation.

There are better ways, Salazar knows it and many here know it.