Obama team keeps Bush polar bear climate ruleWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Friday it will keep a Bush-era rule that weakens protection for polar bears' icy habitat and plays down links between the threatened status of the species and climate change.
"Seeing the polar bear's habitat melting and an iconic species threatened is an environmental tragedy of the modern age," U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a telephone briefing.
"The best course of action for protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act is to wisely implement the current rule, not revoke it at this time," which would cause confusion, Salazar said.
Government scientists would continue to monitor the situation, he said. But that did not mollify environmental groups that opposed the rule.
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