The Bush Administration has announced that it will protect polar bears as a "threatened species" under the Endangered Species Act. The decision follows a three-year legal battle waged by NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace. While the new protection marks a huge step forward in our long-term fight to save the bear from the ravages of global warming, the administration's action was also full of loopholes for oil companies and other global warming polluters. As NRDC and our partners head back to court to win full-fledged endangered species protection for the polar bear, you can help give these majestic creatures a fighting chance by urging Congress to pass tough global warming legislation. Act now!

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NRDC Files Suit to Save Key Polar Bear Habitat from Oil Drilling

On February 6, the Bush Administration leased nearly 30 million acres of sensitive polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea for destructive oil and gas drilling. Record-setting bids from the Shell oil company and six other oil giants totaled $3.3 billion. The administration proceeded with the sale despite the oil industry's failure to develop an effective method to clean up oil in broken-ice waters. Oil-covered polar bears have almost no chance of survival. Once exposed to spilled oil, polar bears would almost certainly die from ingesting it while trying to clean themselves. NRDC and our partners will fight in federal court until the Bush Administration cancels these lease sales and examines the risk of spills and other environmental impacts from oil and gas development in vital polar bear habitat.

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Two-thirds of Polar Bears Could Perish by 2050

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that thinning sea ice from global warming could kill off two-thirds of the world's polar bears (including the entire Alaskan population) by mid-century. But the report contains a ray of hope: Some populations of bears could survive if long-term warming trends are reversed.

Click here to read the report summary