On April 29, Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, ruled that the Bush administration's decision as to whether the polar bear should be granted endangered species protection must appear in the Federal Register by May 15. This decision rejects a request from the Department of the Interior to delay the decision until the end of June.
Last month, three environment groups, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace sued the Bush Administration for missing the original deadline of Jan. 9 for making the decision. A spokesperson for the CBD said that yesterday's decision was a huge "victory for the polar bear."
Last year, the Bush Administration had proposed listing the polar bear as threatened out of concern that their sea ice habitat was diminishing as a result of rising global temperatures.
The Administration's decision will be significant, because if listed, the polar bear would be the first mammal to receive ESA protection as a result of threats from climate change. Environmentalists and other groups are pushing for this result, hoping it will result in more rapid implementation of greenhouse gas emissions reductions.