The U.S. Interior Department has been sued yet again over polar bears, this time by five industry groups that say the agency’s regulations for protecting bears unfairly single out Alaska businesses’ contribution to climate change. When the polar bear was declared a threatened species because of climate change, Interior went to great lengths to note that the ruling should not be used to block greenhouse-gas-spewing fossil-fuel development. To that end, the agency specifically exempted industrial projects from undergoing related reviews in every state — except for Alaska. The American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Mining Association, National Association of Manufacturers, and American Iron and Steel Institute say the “Alaska Gap” unfairly puts fault for a global phenomenon on one source of emissions. Says the lawsuit, “Anchorage has no more effect on climate change or polar ice than does an emission in Ankara.”
