Environmentalists are in their normal state of righteous frenzy over the Department of Interior’s continued deliberations on whether or not to list the polar bear as “endangered” pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. Responding to a California judge’s decision ordering Interior to make their decision by May 15, Natural Resources Defense Council’s Andrew Wetzler said, “The science is absolutely unambiguous that the polar bear deserves protection.” The Center for Biological Diversity’s Kassie Siegel added: “The science is perfectly clear. There’s no dispute. The polar bear is an endangered species.” This …
According to the Los Angeles Times today: “Every time a new coal-fired power plant is proposed anywhere in the United States, a lawyer from the Sierra Club or an allied environmental group is assigned to stop it, by any bureaucratic or legal means necessary.” And apparently they are winning. The coalition claims to have stopped 65 projects over the last three years (although industry disputes that number). While the parties may quibble over the number of power projects halted by the litigious enviros, industry lawyers are now advising clients to …
Today the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the Interior Department’s delay in deciding whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. Since the polar bear is an immensely popular megafauna, environmentalists hope that an endangered species listing for the bear could serve as the final nail in the coffin for any energy exploration and development in the Arctic. While the loss of energy development in these lands can only drive energy prices up further, higher gas prices are just the …
