Polar bears are threatened by global warming, added to endangered list

The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species Wednesday, saying it must be protected because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming, the Associated Press is reporting.

"Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses," the AP says. "These declines, he told a news conference, mean the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future."

However, Kempthorne said he would not use the Endangered Species Act as a tool to to force a reduction in greenhouse gases or take any other action to combat climate change. Stay tuned for lawsuits from both environmental groups who want Kempthorne to go further and anti-ESA groups that object to the listing.

--Craig Pittman