By J.R. PeggWASHINGTON, DC, January 17, 2008 (ENS) - Key polar bear habitat should be held off limits to oil and gas drilling until federal wildlife officials have determined whether the species should be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, the chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said today.
“Order matters,” said committee chair Ed Markey a Massachusetts Democrat. “You don’t put on your shoes before your socks … and we shouldn’t be selling the drilling rights in this important polar bear habitat before deciding how we are going to protect them.”
Markey convened the hearing in the wake of an announcement on January 7 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that it will delay a decision on whether the polar bear should be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
