Global News - January 2008

< Back to Global News

US urged to delay drilling to protect polar bears

Wed 30 January 2008 13:00 UK — North America,Bears

A US government committee has called on the Washington administration to delay the issuing of licences for oil and gas drilling in Alaska until after it has been established whether or not the polar bear is to be classed as threatened.

The House of Representatives Committee on Global Warming has called for the delay, which follows Monday's (January 28th) filing of a legal suit by conservation groups claiming that federal agencies had not released important documents relating to the proposed drilling.

Speaking to the Contra Costa Times, the House committee's chairman, senator Edward Markey, claimed that previous decisions had unfairly ruled in favour of gas and oil exploration.

"Every time there is a choice between extinction and extraction in this administration, extraction wins," he said. "This must not be the case for the polar bear."

The US Minerals Management Service is scheduled to conduct its lease sale of 46,000 square miles of the outer continental shelf on February 6th, while the US Fish and Wildlife Service's decision on the polar bear's status was, last week, delayed for 30 days.

Figures released last year by the US Geological Survey indicated that shrinking sea ice could lead to the disappearance of as much as two-thirds of the world's polar bear population.

Help IAR rescue and rehabilitate endangered wildlife.

News brought to you by International Animal Rescue, leaders in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.

< Back to Global News   |   Read IAR News

Read IAR News >