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Alaska Sues Feds Over Polar Bear Listing as Threatened Species

Posted Aug 5, 2008, 01:33 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

In a battle between environmental and business concerns, the state of Alaska has sued U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, seeking to overturn his designation of the polar bear as a threatened species, under the Endangered Species Act.

"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," reports the Associated Press.

They say that Kempthorne overreacted by listing the polar bear as threatened—because of global warming that is melting the bears' ice habitat—on May 14. Instead, the Alaska contingent contends, what the governor calls "the best scientific and… Continue reading...

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Title: Alaska Sues Feds Over Polar Bear Listing as Threatened Species



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