>>>>Yay! Now all greenhouse emissions are eligible for massive regulation. How long until they start regulating the steam coming from my ears.
>>>>
>>>>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90LJ4BO2&show_article=1
>>>
>>>
>>>You can debate the cause but it is a fact that the polar ice cap is melting, and that does represent a threat to polar bears. Hence being declared an endangered species.
>>
>>There is no fixed ice cap in the Arctic, unlike the Antarctic, it is a sea that has ice on it, which changes dramatically throughout the year. The mechanisms behind those ice flows are numerous and not well understood. The goal in achieving the listing is to regulate carbon emissions, which means everything involving CO2, including our exhaled breath, is subject. There are multiple divergent studies regarding polar bear populations, nothing definitive. Finally they weren't listed "endangered" mearly "threatened", however, the resulting lawsuits will hardly care about the distinction.
>
>I read in the paper this morning that the oil companies are already gearing up for lawsuits. Also that there are loopholes in the polar bear ruling for the benefit of oil and gas exploration (don't know much about that yet).

I don't believe any loopholes will stand. I prefer to look at the results of other listings and the consequences both major (think NW timber industry) and minor (think elderberry beetle). The effects will not be immediate, as the lawsuits will take time to work through the courts and there's always a chance of the higher courts stopping the madness, but I won't hold my breath (at least until its illegal not to). ;)