Posted on behalf of Rachel Courtland:

Big fluffy costumes are not typical attire on Capitol Hill, but at a House of Representatives hearing today, a couple of people dressed as polar bears kept edging in the camera sights. At issue was the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s postponement of the decision on whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species. The agency’s director, Dale Hall, says the delay is simply intended to give his staff more time to get solid language in place. But the decision will now likely come after Feb. 6, when another agency in the Department of Interior, the Minerals Management Service, puts a large chunk of polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea up for lease for off-shore oil and gas drilling.

At the start of the hearing, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said the timing of decisions creates a “drill first and ask questions later” situation, enabling oil and gas companies to skirt thorny endangered-species regulations that might impede drilling. “If we get this wrong, we will be accelerating the day the polar bear becomes extinct.” Markey said he plans to introduce legislation that would force the Interior Department to rule on the endangered status of the bear before leasing drilling rights in the Chukchi.

The biggest concern to the committee was the potential for oil spills, which can be fatal as bears tend to lick oil off their fur if exposed. The Minerals Management Service estimates the potential for a Chukchi spill, over the lifetime of the project, at more than 30 percent — a number some committee members said seemed large, though it’s difficult to quantify the risk to bears. The Service’s director Randall Luthi said he did not favor the postponement of the Chukchi lease. He told the committee his agency has already taken into account potential environmental impacts and that the bears are already protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Image: NOAA