02 December 2010
Alaska Polar Bears Get Added Protections
Washington — Polar bears have survived for thousands of years in some of the coldest regions of the world, only to now see their world gradually melt away.
In an effort to protect the Alaska sea ice that polar bears depend on for their survival, the U.S. government has designated an area larger than the state of California as “critical” polar bear habitat. This could slow down oil and gas development in sections of Alaska’s remote northern coast.
American environmental groups hailed the habitat designation (available on the Department of the Interior website), which came after the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed polar bears as “threatened” in 2008, citing human-induced climate change as the key challenge facing the animals. The listing under the federal Endangered Species Act gives the large animals protections, but not as strong as if they were labeled “endangered.”
The government is required to create a critical habitat for animals listed under the Endangered Species Act. The new protected areas include 187,157 square miles (484,734 square kilometers); nearly 96 percent consists of sea ice during at least a portion of the year.
AN UNFRIENDLY CLIMATE FOR POLAR BEARS
The rapid increase in man-made greenhouse gas emissions has accelerated the melting of sea ice, on which polar bears depend to mate, hunt for food, and raise their cubs.
Scientists have estimated that if global temperatures continue to rise, two-thirds of the world’s polar bears will disappear by 2050 (see the release on the U.S. Geological Survey website), including all of Alaska’s remaining 3,000 or so bears.
“Polar bears are slipping away,” said Andrew Wetzler, director of the Land and Wildlife Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the largest environmental organizations in the United States.
“But we know that there are crucial protections that can keep them around,” he said. The habitat designation “is a start, especially in warding off ill-considered oil and gas development in America’s most important polar bear habitat.”
The designation provides an additional layer of protection for polar bears, which already receive special considerations under two other federal laws, said Bruce Woods, an Alaska-based USFWS spokesman.
To what degree future oil development will be affected in the designated area — including oil exploration that the oil company Shell has planned to begin there in mid-2011 — remains to be seen, Woods said, adding, “I think we can assume that some potential activities in the case of oil and gas exploration may require additional permitting.”
That adds a level of uncertainty to oil and gas projects, which accounted for $2.2 billion of Alaska’s state revenue in the fiscal year that ended October 30, according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The state produces about 14 percent of oil consumed in the United States.
BALANCING ECONOMIC INTERESTS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Alaska state officials have argued that the bears enjoyed adequate protections without the Endangered Species Act and have indicated they may seek a legal challenge to the critical habitat designation.
“This additional layer of regulatory burden will not only slow job creation and economic growth here and for our nation, but will also slow oil and gas exploration efforts,” Alaska Governor Sean Parnell said in late November.
Off-shore drilling remains a contentious issue in the United States after the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill earlier in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.
On December 1, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that oil exploration in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts will continue to be on hold until at least 2017. The moratorium (see the Interior website) does not extend to Alaska’s Arctic seas, however, where Shell is planning oil exploration off the coast of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.
The federal government will continue an environmental assessment of the company’s drilling plans and proceed with “utmost caution,” Salazar said. The recent critical habitat designation requires the Department of the Interior to also consult with biologists from USFWS before it allows companies to drill for oil in the protected areas.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
