Jamie Rappaport Clark, former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, blasted the Bush Administration’s illegal delay of the decision required by the Endangered Species Act about whether the polar bear will be recognized as endangered. The Bush White House is delaying the polar bear decision by the EPA until after big oil corporations are able to buy leases in the Chukchi Sea, prime polar bear habitat, at rock bottom prices in an auction scheduled for today. Clark said,

“The Bush administration’s delay in listing the polar bear as a threatened species, while going forward with the sale of 30 million acres of oil and gas leases in polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea, makes clear that this administration is more interested in catering to its friends in the oil and gas industry than saving endangered species or stopping global warming.”

Are the polar bears endangered? It’s obvious to anyone who’s been paying attention to the Arctic. But, don’t just take my opinion on the matter, or the opinion of the former director of Fish and Wildlife. Consider the professional opinion of the U.S. Geological Survey. Here’s what Clark had to say about that:

“The U.S. Geological Survey reported last year that if we continue with business as usual, there will be no more polar bears in Alaska by 2050. More oil and gas development in the Arctic means more greenhouse gas pollution, further melting the sea-ice pack on which polar bears depend. Promoting more oil and gas development while failing to protect polar bears and address global warming is a bankrupt policy from an administration that shows no concern for what kind of world we will leave our children.”

Clark is right. Find out more about the polar bears’ plight at Defenders of Wildlife.