The regulation allows oil and gas companies to harass polar bears while carrying out broad and intensive industrial activities for five years, starting in 2021.

вЂњPresident Biden promised bold action to address the climate crisis, yet his administration is allowing business-as-usual oil drilling in the Arctic.вЂќ WeвЂ™re hopeful the court will overturn this dangerous rule that puts polar bears in the crosshairs,вЂќ said Kristen Monsell, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. вЂњThe Biden administration flouted the law in allowing oil companies to continue their noisy, harmful onslaught on polar bears. The Biden administration ignored the law and its own science and handled the process as if stamping an oil-industry punch card.вЂќ вЂњThe Fish and Wildlife Service has a legal obligation to do a thorough analysis of the potentially lethal effects of industryвЂ™s harassment of polar bears, and to consider ways to avoid and minimize that harm. вЂњThe regulation absolutely defies the Marine Mammal Protection Act and violates multiple other laws by allowing the harassment of nearly half the population of these already threatened polar bears,вЂќ said Bridget Psarianos, an attorney with Trustees for Alaska. Mind you, these polar bears have already declined by 40% in the past few decades and continue to face habitat loss.вЂќ вЂњThis Fish and Wildlife Service rule allows oil and gas companies to harass almost halfВ of the polar bears left in the Southern Beaufort Sea population, double the harassment that occurred under the last regulation. вЂњ вЂHarassmentвЂ™ is a fancy legal way of saying that an action can disturb or injure polar bears,вЂќ said Nicole Schmitt, executive director of Alaska Wildlife Alliance. Fish and Wildlife Service to allow oil and gas operators in Alaska to harass polar bears and walruses in the Beaufort Sea and on the North Slope during a range of oil and gas activities, including exploration, construction, extraction and transportation. The Alaska Oil and Gas Association asked the U.S. SeptemANCHORAGE,В Alaska вЂ“ Conservation groups sued the Biden administration today (on September 16 th) for issuing a regulation that allows oil and gas companies to harass Southern Beaufort Sea polar bears despite the likelihood of causing injury and death.

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