And after years of legal wrangling, the Bush administration has finally listed the polar bear as an endangered species. Making the announcement, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the loss of Arctic sea ice could bring about the bears’ extinction within decades.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne: “Today’s decision is based on three findings. First, sea ice is vital to polar bear survival. Second, the polar bear’s sea ice habitat has dramatically melted in recent decades. Third, computer models suggest sea ice is likely to further recede in the future. Because polar bears are vulnerable to this loss of habitat, they are, in my judgment, likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future — in this case, forty-five years.”

The move marks the first time the Endangered Species Act has been invoked to protect an animal mainly threatened by global warming. But despite acknowledging that threat, Kempthorne stressed the move will not open the door to policy changes on reducing emissions of greenhouse gas. Kempthorne says the endangered species designation will only translate to bans on hunting of polar bears. Greenpeace climate expert Kert Davies criticized the Bush administration’s stance.

Kert Davies: “They basically took the teeth out of the law. We know they could have done better. A different administration might have done better with this law. And the notion that there is no way that the government — that US actions on global warming can affect the Arctic is also ridiculous, because the US’s 25 percent of global emissions and the thought that nothing we can do in this country will positively affect the polar bear is outrageous.”

The endangered species designation came one day before a court-ordered deadline in a case brought by environmentalists to force the White House to take action on the polar bears’ survival.