The American Petroleum Institute, the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Mining Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute filed a lawsuit last Wednesday against the US Interior Department requesting that implementation of a rule to protect polar bears not prevent oil, gas, mining and manufacturing projects that release global warming gases. After polar bears received the threatened species designation, a rule was put into place that limits the types of projects that may be reviewed in order to protect the polar bear and its habitat. Projects in every state but Alaska were then exempted from being reviewed in an effort to prevent the use of endangered species law to regulate greenhouse gases.
The Bush administration has claimed that greenhouse gas emissions from one project cannot be targeted as the source of rising temperatures and therefore, melting sea ice, that threaten polar bears.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080828/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/polar_bear_lawsuit_2
