Is the Polar Bear the Tip of the Iceberg of Arctic Energy Exploration Restrictions?

WASHINGTON, JUNE 10, 2008 -- On May 14, after a long process fraught with pressure from interest groups, the Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), making polar bears the first animal to be placed on the endangered species list as a result of global warming.
 
The implications of this decision for energy prices were not immediately clear. Environmentalists hope to use the ruling to stop the issuance of new oil and gas drilling permits in the Arctic, and AEI scholar Kenneth P. Green raised the possibility in a recent Environmental Policy Outlook that it could be used to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On June 9, AEI hosted a conference to discuss these issues, with Green moderating the conversation between Case Western Reserve professor of environmental law Jonathan Adler and Bryan Arroyo, assistant director for the Endangered Species Program for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
 
Based on how the ESA is written, panelists said, listing the polar bear as threatened was unavoidable. The ESA mandates the listing of species thought to be threatened or endangered based on the best available science, regardless of how certain that science is. As Arroyo explained, the government's research validated the importance of sea ice to polar bears and found that ice has significantly decreased and is expected to continue to recede further; therefore, the polar bear had to be listed.
 
The ESA has been called the "the pit bull of environmental laws" because it forces the government to engage in a variety of actions that agencies would otherwise not choose--without regard to economic cost. Adler argued that it can also hurt endangered species by prohibiting the hunting of them, even in areas where community-based conservation efforts rely on providing incentives for habitat protection through revenue-producing hunting.
 
Arroyo acknowledged that species listing can result in habitat destruction because having endangered species on one's land limits economic activity. If he could, he added, he would create incentives under the ESA for private land stewardship. Arroyo was less pessimistic than Adler, however, about how the ESA listing might affect future oil and gas drilling, stating that he does not expect "a huge increase in costs" to energy companies that want to drill in the area.
 
Arroyo also dismissed the idea that the ESA would be used to limit GHG emissions. In order to regulate an action under the ESA, he said, "we must have causal impact" between the action and species endangerment. A typical example of this would be forbidding the building of a road through an endangered species' habitat. Arroyo said that the link between declining polar bear populations and, for instance, the release of GHG emissions caused by the building of a new power plant is not strong enough that the ESA could be used to prevent that sort of economic activity.
 
But as Green wrote in his Outlook, environmentalists will certainly make attempts under the ESA to limit GHG emissions. Furthermore, even if courts eventually reject arguments for limiting emissions, litigation strains the resources of the Fish and Wildlife Department and delays economic projects.
 
As both Arroyo and Adler noted, the polar bear is a charismatic, high-profile creature, and environmental groups are already planning to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service to attempt to force it to take various actions to protect the species. It remains to be seen how much the listing of polar bears will affect energy production and costs--and whether being on the endangered species list will actually help polar bears. And, as Green said, the polar bear is only the first species that environmental groups may try to use to force the government to regulate GHG emissions. Next on the list: the Pacific walrus, for which the Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing ESA petitions.

--ABIGAIL HADDAD

For video, audio, and more information, visit www.aei.org/event1731/.

AEI sponsors research into climate change and environmental policy, including "Is the Polar Bear Endangered, or Just Conveniently Charismatic?," by Kenneth P. Green.

For more information about environmental policy studies at AEI, visit www.aei.org/environment/ or contact Abigail Haddad at abigail.haddad@aei.org or 202.862.7165.

For media inquiries, contact Véronique Rodman at vrodman@aei.org or 202.862.4870.

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