Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing on Polar Bear Threats and Protection

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) chaired an investigation this morning questioning the “timing and reasoning” behind the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s delay in their decision on whether or not to include polar bears under the Endangered Species Act.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works devoted significant attention to delay in the decision to include polar bears under the ESA because such a decision on the bears' inclusion will now not be made until after the Minerals Management Service has issued leases for risky oil and gas development set to occur in “almost 30 million acres of polar bear habitat.” Such leases could further threaten polar bear life.

Boxer and the Committee questioned Dale Hall, director of the USFWS, and each party agreed that due to factors such as climate change, the development and transportation of oil and gas, pollution, and even human interaction, polar bear habitat, prey, reproduction, and chances for survival has diminished. As Margaret Williams, Managing Director of the Kamchtka/Bering Sea Ecoregion Program of World Wildlife Fund noted, “We need to closely scrutinize and prevent all actions that may add further stress to the polar bear, including conducting oil and gas leasing in prime polar bear habitat.”