Hey, fun fact time!  Your fun fact of the day comes courtest of the federal government, who tells you that the Endangered Species Act isn’t really about protecting endangered species!  Who knew?  The News & Observer has the story, and I may rely heavily on quoting them so this whole post doesn’t slide into deep, deep cynicism.

New legal memos by top Bush administration officials say that the Endangered Species Act can’t be used to protect animals and their habitats from climate change by regulating specific sources of greenhouse gas emissions, the cause of global warming.

So, okay…why is this?  Well, the reasoning is quite simple.  Because greenhouse gasses aren’t really hurting anyone.  Again, I will cede to the article:

One of the memos, from the Interior Department’s top lawyer, concluded that emissions of greenhouse gases from any proposed project can’t be proved to have an impact on species or habitat, so it isn’t necessary for federal agencies to consult with government wildlife experts about the impact of such gases on species as stipulated under the Endangered Species Act.

So, there you have it.

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(*ITOTD = Inconvenient Truth of the Day)

The Bush administration is proposing major (and deeply terrifying) changes changes to the Endangered Species Act. The plan would would allow federal agencies unprecedented degree of discretion to decide on their own- without ANY supervision- if their activities are harmful endangered species and the environment.

Seriously?!

Well,  Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne stands by this plan:  “The existing regulations create unnecessary conflicts and delays.”  I can see why it is annoying to waste time on protecting animals.

“We need to focus our efforts where they will do the most good,” Kempthorne added. “It is important to use our time and resources to protect the most vulnerable species. It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse gas emissions and distant observations of impacts on species.”

Hmm… Really? In May, the polar bear became the first species declared as threatened because of climate change.

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A few months back, here at takepart we told you the good news that the Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as an endangered species, the first species that is protected due to climate change. Well, it turns out not everyone thought the protection of the Alaskan polar bears was such a good idea. Specifically, the Alaskans.

The Associated Press reports that the state of Alaska is suing Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne (awesome name) to have the ruling reversed to take polar bears off the endangered species list. From the article:

Gov. Sarah Palin and other state officials fear a listing will cripple offshore oil and gas development in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in Alaska’s northern waters, which provide prime habitat for the only polar bears under U.S. jurisdiction.

In announcing the decision to sue, Governor Palin stated, “We believe that the Service’s decision to list the polar bear was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available.”

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Social Action + Cinema Videos of the Day:

1) Climate Security Fight Not Over!

For the Cinema YouTube Video of the Day, Click here >>>

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The Caribbean monk seal has been declared extinct by the NOAA Fisheries Service after a five-year review of the seals’ endangered status. This is the first type of seal that has gone extinct from human causes, says NOAA biologists, who blame overhunting as the primary cause of the seals’ extinction:

“Humans left the Caribbean monk seal population unsustainable after overhunting them in the wild,” said Kyle Baker, biologist for NOAA’s Fisheries Service southeast region. “Unfortunately, this lead to their demise and labels the species as the only seal to go extinct from human causes.” [ENN.com]

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It’s May 16th, I’m Gina Telaroli and this is TakePart.com’s look at the week in social action…

The Interior Department has decided today to protect the polar bear population under the Endangered Species Act. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne says that polar bears are threatened because the Arctic ice is melting. And faster than we imagined.

This is the first time that the Endangered Species Act has been used to protect a species threatened by the impacts of climate change. But the New York Times reports, this ruling may not have the impact many are hoping for:

But the long-delayed decision to list the bear as a threatened species may prove less of an impediment to industries along the Alaskan coast than many environmentalists had hoped. While further protecting the polar bear from direct or immediate threats — like hunting — the Interior Department added stipulations, seldom invoked under the act, that will make it relatively easy for oil and gas exploration and development activities to proceed.

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Will walruses be the next poster critter for global warming? They may not be quite as cute as polar bears, but they’re equally endangered, according to an environmental group that’s filed a petition seeking protection for the whiskery marine mammal. From Reuters:

The Center for Biological Diversity filed the petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, citing the impact of global warming to the icy habitat used by walrus especially nursing mothers and calves that need ice shelves to rest and nurse.

The walruses are being forced onto land where they’re at greater risk from predators. And their natural habitat is facing disruption from new oil development as well, according to Reuters.

But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a little backed up when it comes to deciding which species are endangered. Required by law to make a decision on the polar bear’s status by January 9th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced that it needed more time.

No such delays, though, on opening up huge swaths of critical polar bear habitat for oil and gas exploration; while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stalls, the petroleum industry’s charging full speed ahead. On Wednesday, Shell Oil shelled out billons for leases to drill in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest shore.

Learn more about the Center for Biological Diversity’s efforts to save endangered species here.

Polar bears are in limbo; while their natural habitat’s melting away, our government is debating whether or not global warming has, in fact, turned them into an endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is required by Federal law to make its decision by tomorrow, which marks a year since the agency first proposed listing the polar bear as threatened.

But, as the San Francisco Chronicle reports today, the Bush administration announced on Monday that it can’t meet the deadline, and may need another month. Should the agency decide the polar bear merits protection, it will pose a huge setback to the oil and gas companies who are drooling over the prospect of drilling in Alaska.

And, as luck would have it, there’s a first-time oil lease sale scheduled for Feb. 6 in Alaska’s pristine Chukchi Sea, which, the Chronicle notes, “provides one-tenth of the habitat for the world’s polar bears.”

So it looks like the sale of the oil lease will go forward while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dithers about the polar bears till, oh, just after February 6th. Coincidence, or just another case of craven pandering to the carbon cabal?