Obama Retains Bush-Era Regulation Gutting Protections for Polar Bear

Statement by Melanie Duchin, Greenpeace USA, on the Department of
Interior’s Retention of Bush Administration Regulation Weakening the
Endangered Species Act

Background: On March 11, 2009, President Obama signed legislation giving
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the authority to immediately
rescind, with the stroke of a pen, two Bush regulations that
fundamentally undermine protections for the polar bear and thwart the
regulation of greenhouse gas pollution.  On April 28, Secretary Salazar
rescinded one rule reinstating the consultation process between agencies
allowing science a role in decision-making on potential impacts to
endangered species.

Today, Secretary Salazar announced that the second regulation would
remain in place. This regulation known as the “polar bear special rule”
exempts global warming from the list of threats that the federal
government must consider in its efforts to protect the polar bear under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

To date, Greenpeace and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has
delivered nearly 150,000 petitions calling on Salazar to eliminate the
polar bear special rule.