News of the North

Surprise, surprise: the Alaska Oil and Gas Association is complaining that the measures needed to save the polar bear will be too inconvenient, and consulting with the Fish and Wildlife Service will create "delays and expenses". The decision on whether or not to list polar bears as "threatened" will not come until next January. Perhaps the US government has decided that if it waits long enough, the problem will go away - after all, by 2040 all the summer sea ice may have melted, and polar bears might no longer be an issue...?