At a Jan. 17 hearing, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming questioned the true motives behind the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) delay in deciding whether to list the polar bear as a threatened species.

Testimony at the hearing suggested the delay would enable impending oil and gas lease sales in the middle of polar bear habitat to go forward without meeting the habitat conservation standards required under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). If this is true, it is another example of exploitation of science and environmental regulation at the behest of industry concerns.

The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) manages oil and gas leases on the Alaskan Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), which includes the Chukchi Sea. On Feb. 6, MMS will hold lease sales in the Chukchi Sea for 30 million acres, all of which is polar bear habitat. On Jan. 7, FWS announced that they would not meet the Jan. 9 court-stipulated deadline for the polar bear listing determination.

This wasn't the first missed deadline in the polar bears' dealings with FWS. Environmental groups filed suit when FWS was late in submitting the initial 90-day review. The Center for Biological Diversity filed for the polar bear listing Feb. 16, 2005, but FWS took an entire year to complete the 90-day review, which was finished in February 2006. After a September 2007 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report unequivocally predicted habitat destruction resulting in the loss of two-thirds of the world's polar bear population, the listing was delayed twice more to extend the comment period and incorporate this new information into the decision.

Randall Luthi, director of MMS, testified that environmental impact statements have concluded "no jeopardy" to polar bears. However, a species status change to "threatened" would require a review with a higher conservation bar, likely changing previous determinations. Thus, if the sales go through before the polar bear is listed as a threatened species, companies could start their drill plans, and critical habitat damage could occur. Even with the restrictions a later listing would require, scientists are clear that the polar bears' situation is so tenuous that no further habitat destruction can be tolerated. Representatives from three conservation groups and the Polar Bear Team Leader of USGS, Dr. Steven Amstrup, all testified to that effect. Luthi and FWS Director Dale Hall, the remainder of the hearing panel, did not find the polar bears' situation as dire or weighed energy concerns more heavily.

The mounting evidence demands timely action to preserve polar bear habitat, and any delay in doing so is not supported by science. FWS is already mired in other scandals, such as the one involving former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie McDonald, where politically motivated science manipulation compromised listing determinations. At the very least, since the court-ordered deadline for the final listing determination preceded the sale date of the oil and gas leases, conservationists say the sale should be placed on hold until FWS makes its final determination.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) recently introduced legislation to prohibit any leases until the polar bear listing is complete.