Alaska not keen on polar bear protections

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The polar bear is mentioned only obliquely in the latest international survey of global warming science – as a “predator high in the food chain” likely to suffer as sea ice melts in the Arctic.

But Alaska’s 1,200-pound “canary in the coal mine” is looming larger than ever in the debate over the impacts of man-made greenhouse gases and what – if anything – should be done about them.

The state House of Representatives passed a resolution last week opposing efforts to list the polar bear as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. Arguing that the bears are doing fine worldwide, Alaska House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, dismissed as an “unfounded, unproven scientific hypothesis” the notion that release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is causing climate change.

Resources committee co-chairman Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, issued a statement warning that the polar bear is being used by environmental groups to serve a “bigger, darker agenda” to punish business and change American habits.

The House measure, which passed 30-9, called on other states to join Alaska in opposing the designation of polar bears as threatened. House members said that air-pollution rules intended to slow the melting of polar ice could affect distant projects such as new power plants in the Lower 48.

The state Senate passed a similar measure last week. The 12-5 vote was largely along party lines, though some rural Democrats in both houses voted with the majority. Concerns have been raised that an endangered-species listing could affect subsistence.

Meanwhile, Gov. Sarah Palin’s administration is drawing up comments to oppose the federal listing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deadline for public comments on listing the polar bear is Monday. A decision on the listing is expected in January.

Polar bears are considered marine mammals. They spend their summers and falls on sea ice hunting seals, their chief prey.

Because warming trends have been stronger in northern latitudes, Alaska has documented more impacts of a changing climate than most places. But that hasn’t translated into strong political pressure from Alaska for action to reduce carbon emissions.

Some officials say listing the polar bear would create a broad new reach for the Endangered Species Act, given the global source of the emissions that most scientists say are causing the bear’s problem.

“If you can use climate change to justify the listing of polar bears as threatened, look at all the other species that inhabit the Arctic that this can apply to as well,” Kenton Taylor, deputy commissioner of Fish and Game, said Friday.