Interior Cuts Greenhouse Loopholes In Endangered Species Act

摘要

In controversial changes that the incoming Obama administration will likely try to undo, the Bush administration last week announced new rules that give federal agencies wide latitude to avoid reviewing climate change impacts on endangered or threatened species caused by oil drilling or other major development projects seeking federal permits.rnThe Interior Department also issued a separate "special rule" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that says climate impacts of development projects cannot be the basis for federal actions to protect the polar bear, which is threatened by the rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic that many scientists attribute to global warming.rnInterior said the special rule would ensure that projects outside Alaska dornnot get embroiled in endangered species review and that the ESA is not "used inappropriately" to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.