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ARTICLE · 11 AUGUST 2009

Alaska Energy & Environmental Policy Update - May 8, 2009

Van Ness Feldman LLP
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Today, Secretary Salazar announced that the Department of the Interior will not withdraw the Polar Bear Special 4(d) Rule, commenting that “the Endangered Species Act is not the proper mechanism for controlling our nation’s carbon emissions.”

United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources

Article by Rick Agnew, Tom Roberts, Jon Simon, Tyson Kade, Andrew VanderJack, and Jeff Winmill

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COMMENTARY

Today, Secretary Salazar announced that the Department of the Interior will not withdraw the Polar Bear Special 4(d) Rule, commenting that "the Endangered Species Act is not the proper mechanism for controlling our nation's carbon emissions."  In April, the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce announced the withdrawal of the December 2008 final rule modifying the Endangered Species Act section 7 consultation regulations, while simultaneously initiating a comprehensive review of the section 7 consultation regulations in an effort to improve the highly inefficient federal consultation process.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the Bush Administration's five-year oil and gas leasing program for the Outer Continental Shelf. 

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