State sues over polar bear status
From Times Wire Reports
The state sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, seeking to reverse his decision to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
State officials fear a listing will cripple offshore oil and gas development in its northern waters, which provide prime habitat for the only polar bears under U.S. jurisdiction.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., claims the federal analysis did not adequately consider polar bear survival through earlier warming periods centuries ago.
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