"SEATTLE -- Polar bears are skating on thin ice in Alaska these days: Warming temperatures have resulted in dramatic shrinkage of sea ice, leaving the bears with fewer ice floes on which to rest and hunt seals. But at least for the moment, the Endangered Species Act won't be used to control the greenhouse gas emissions that conservationists say are contributing to climate change and posing one of the biggest threats to the bears' survival."

"The Obama administration on Tuesday released a proposed rule that -- like an earlier version put forward under President  George W. Bush -- exempts operations outside the bears' normal territory from restrictions on activities. That could include new coal-fired power plants or big factories with mercury emissions, which might harm bears thousands of miles away in the Arctic seas.

The rule, released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for public comment, was a setback for environmentalists who have argued it's not enough to declare polar bears 'threatened' under the Endangered Species Act without going after the industrial activities that may be contributing to the melting of sea ice."

Kim Murphy reports for the Los Angeles Times April 17, 2012. [2]