Landmark Listing Falls Short

Last month’s listing of the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act marked the first time wildlife was listed primarily due to global warming. But the listing came with a major caveat. A proposed rule would essentially leave the struggling bears without new safeguards to ensure their survival -- allowing Big Oil to continue to invade vital polar bear habitat like Alaska’s Chukchi Sea.

Defenders and our partners have put federal officials on notice that we intend to challenge the new rule, and force the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to take real action to protect polar bears from vanishing habitat and climate change.