The Bush administration issued two late-term regulations on Thursday that environmentalists say weaken federal protection for endangered species but that Interior Department officials defended as blocking a `` back-door '' attempt to regulate emissions that contribute to global warming .
emissions
bush administration issue late-term regulation thursday environmentalist weaken federal protection endanger specie interior department official defend block `` back-door attempt regulate emission contribute global warming
The Bush administration issued two late-term regulations on Thursday that environmentalists say weaken federal protection for endangered species but that Interior Department officials defended as blocking a `` back-door '' attempt to regulate <m> emissions </m> that contribute to global warming .
The Bush administration issued two late-term regulations on Thursday that environmentalists say weaken federal protection for endangered species but that Interior Department officials defended as blocking a `` back-door '' attempt to regulate <m> emissions </m> that contribute to global warming .
Conservation groups sued to block the new rules , reigniting a fight over so-called midnight regulation that had seemed to die down a day earlier when the administration declined to impose looser air pollution rules that environmentalists had feared .
Previously , federal agencies were required to consult with scientists who specialized in particular species before proceeding with a project like a road or dam .
The project could not go forward unless the specialist certified that no harm would come to endangered plants or wildlife .
The rules announced Thursday would allow federal agencies to bypass those scientists in some cases if the agencies determined that the endangered species would not be harmed .
The revision was finalized after four months of deliberation and over the objections of what officials said were the bulk of nearly 235,000 public comments on the change .
The updated rules also bar agencies from stopping a project because its emissions might contribute to global warming .
Opponents call the change particularly objectionable for the polar bear , which has seen its habitat shrink as Arctic ice caps melt .
The government declared polar bears a threatened species this year .
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne called the rule changes `` narrow '' and a `` common-sense '' approach to species protection .
He stressed that agencies could still consult with species scientists if they chose , and he reiterated his belief that climate change regulation is a `` wholly inappropriate use of the Endangered Species Act . ''
Kempthorne acknowledged internal debate over the changes , but he and other administration officials said they tweaked the rule in response to public comments .
Environmental groups panned them anyway .
Janette Brimmer , an attorney with Earthjustice , said the administration was `` using global warming as a stalking horse to undo species protections on a broad scale . ''
Andrew Wetzler , director of the Natural Resources Defense Council 's endangered species program , was blunt:
`` We will see them in court . ''
Environmentalists have tussled with the administration in its waning days over oil and gas drilling leases near national parks and oil shale development across the western U.S .
They cheered Wednesday , however , when the Environmental Protection Agency said it would not revise two air pollution standards .
White House officials say they 've worked hard to minimize the kind of end-of-term rulemaking that President Bill Clinton engaged in heavily .
Many of the late rules could be difficult for President-elect Barack Obama to overturn without in a lengthy process , though a little-used law could allow Congress to void them .
The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing on Thursday into Bush 's late energy and environmental rulemaking .
Committee Chairman Rep. Edward Markey ( D-Mass. ) said the rules issued Thursday showed the administration was `` determined to use every last minute in office to wreak as much havoc as possible on our nation . ''
Kempthorne , for his part , sounded keenly aware of timing issues in a conference call with reporters , when he noted he had 39 days left in office .
Asked if that gave him pause for issuing new rules , he replied:
`` Do you think Eli Manning should have left the field five minutes before the end of the last Super Bowl ? ''