Christian Science Monitor Story on Climate Change Litigation

Story today in Christian Science Monitor provides nice list of recent climate change litigation.

The list includes a law suit commenced this month under the Endangered Species Act by Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment claiming that the US Fish and Wildlife Service failed to consider global warming when drafting rules for oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Beaufort Sea. The suit cites studies showing that shrinking Arctic ice disrupts polar bear and walrus populations, that some bears are drowning because of melting ice shelves, and claims that these deaths are a taking under the Endangered Species Act.

Polar bears can suffer harm from activities such as drilling, seismic work and transportation which disturb feeding, cause abandonment of maternity dens and generally disrupt polar bear life cycles. According to the lawsuit, the US Fish and Wildlife Service didn't assess these impacts in the context of a warming Arctic, and failed to demand that appropriate protective measures be taken by those engaged in exploration.

For more information on this litigation, see the Earthjustice site.