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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Polar Bear Trails Oil and Gas in Race to a Decision

[Reg•Watch Update: Oil and Gas Companies Win, Polar Bears Lose Feb. 6]

The Department of Interior is all set to approve Feb. 6 a lease program for oil and gas companies to operate in Chukchi Sea off Alaska's coast. The timetable for a decision on whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act is much looser. The agency was required to make its decision on the polar bear by Jan. 9, but it is now aiming for "the very near future," according to AP.

Yesterday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee pressed an administration official, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall, on the connection between the two decisions. If Interior chooses to list the polar bear before approving the lease program, the agency would have to analyze the impacts of oil and gas activity on the polar bear's health and habitat. If approval of the lease plan comes first, the polar bear is on its own.

The delay in the decision to list the polar bear reeks of a favor to oil and gas industry execs who would prefer to be able to drill in the region without taking special precautions to protect the species. In opening statements, Chairwoman Barbara Boxer said, "I find it curious that while your agency in the Interior Department is dragging its feet to list the polar bear, another agency in the Interior Department-the Minerals Management Service is charging full speed ahead to allow new oil and gas drilling activities in one of biological hearts of the polar bear's domain-the Chukchi Sea."

But the Bush administration would never put industry interests ahead of its obligation to govern in a timely and responsible fashion, right? According to AP, "Hall told the Senate committee the delay is not based on unresolved scientific issues, but — given the issue's high profile — a desire to assure that Congress and the public will understand the decision when it is made public."

Reg•Watch is not moved by Hall's concern. Congress and the public understand exactly what is going on — and it stinks. (On a related note, for another example of a Bush official patronizing the American people, read this post.)