Polar bears to be protected species
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species Wednesday because of the loss of Arctic sea ice but also cautioned the decision should not be viewed as a path to address global warming.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses, meaning, he said, that the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future.
But Kempthorne said it would be "wholly inappropriate" to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change.
The Endangered Species Act "is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy," said Kempthorne, reflecting a view recently expressed by President Bush.
The department outlined a set of administrative actions and limits to how it planned to protect the bear with its new status so that it would not have wide-ranging a
Senate sends oil bill to president
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Senate late Wednesday approved and sent to the White House legislation directing President Bush to temporarily halt oil shipments into the government's emergency reserve, hoping
» Full StoryWVU faculty demands school president ouster again
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) _ West Virginia University's faculty demanded Wednesday that embattled President Mike Garrison quit over a master's degree scandal involving the governor's daughter, the second
» Full StoryNH driver in fatal crash says she felt threatened
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) _ A woman charged with murder in a fatal crash that followed an argument over the Yankees and Red Sox told police she was trying to scare off people who were hitting her car and jump
» Full StoryArrest made in string of Florida wildfires
PALM BAY, Fla. (AP) _ Authorities arrested a man they say was seen throwing a Molotov cocktail into the woods Wednesday in this Atlantic coast town, where several homes have been gutted by wildfires t
» Full StoryHeavy rain in Louisiana floods dozens of homes
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) _ Record-setting rains flooded dozens of homes and closed roads in northwestern Louisiana, and the misery could rise along with the water as another round of storms approached Wed
» Full Story