The Polar Bear Listing and Its Ramifications: Can the “Butterfly Effect”35 Impose the Endangered Species Act on Federal Authorization of Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
Bloomberg Finance L.P.
May 15, 2008
Elizabeth Lake - San Francisco
Peter Landreth - San Francisco
Lawrence R. "Larry" Liebesman- Washington
On May 15, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or Service) listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It is likely that additional ESA listings based on GHG-induced climate change impacts will follow. In exploring the question of whether climate change considerations will result in the application of the Act to the authorization of projects with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this article by Holland & Knight attorneys Peter Landreth, Elizabeth Lake, and Lawrence Liebesman examines the polar bear listing itself, discusses the limitations of those protections afforded by the ESA, and considers impacts to the Section 7 consultation process — with particular attention to the Service’s obligation to consider projects that emit GHGs and the impacts of climate change more generally. Please click on the link below to view the article.
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