Comments of Secretary Salazar
on Polar Bear Rule
May 8, 2009
Announcer: This is a Podcast from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced in a teleconference today that he will retain a special rule issued in December for protecting the Polar Bear under the Endangered Species Act. The following is his opening statement from that teleconference.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar:
“Over the last few months, as we change how the Department of the Interior does business, I have been carefully reviewing several of the previous Administration’s decisions to determine whether those decisions were made on sound science and in the public interest.
When I started as Secretary of the Interior, I promised an honest, case by case assessment of these decisions. We would uphold those that were right, fix the ones that could be fixed, and pull back the ones that were simply wrong.
We recently revoked, for example, a regulation from the previous Administration that cut scientists out of consultations under the Endangered Species Act. We pulled back a rule that allowed mountain-top mining operations to dump fill into nearby streams. And we have worked to restore balance to oil and gas development on our public lands.
We have also been closely reviewing a rule issued under Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act that guides the protection and recovery of the threatened polar bear. Congress provided special authority to review this rule by May 10.
To see the polar bear’s habitat melting and an iconic species threatened is an environmental tragedy of the modern age. We must do all we can to protect the polar bear.
With this as our priority, I have reviewed the current rule, received the recommendations of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and concluded that the best course of action for protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act is to wisely implement the current rule, and not revoke it at this time.
Revoking the current 4(d) rule would return us to an interim rule that would offer no more protections for the polar bear and would result in uncertainty and confusion about the management of the species
As we keep the current protections on the polar bear in place, scientists will closely monitor the status of the polar bear’s recovery and determine if a new rule needs to be put in place to better protect the polar bear and its habitat.
In addition, we will continue to reach out and listen to the public and a wide range of stakeholders as we monitor the rule and the species’ recovery.
In addition to protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, we must tackle the dangers of climate change. The single greatest threat to the polar bear is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change.
The Endangered Species Act, however, is not, in my view, the proper mechanism for controlling our nation’s carbon emissions.
Instead, we need a comprehensive energy and climate strategy that curbs climate change and its impacts – including the loss of sea ice.
Both President Obama and I are committed to achieving this climate change and new energy strategy.
And both President Obama and I are committed to protecting the polar bear and its habitat.”
Announcer: This has been a Podcast from the United States Department of the Interior.