In a landmark ruling on Monday, an appeals court said federal authorities may list species as “threatened” based on climate change projections—a “huge victory” for animals that “shows the vital importance of the Endangered Species Act,” environmental advocates said.
Big Oil and the state of Alaska had challenged a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Services to list a subspecies of seal as endangered due to eventual Arctic sea ice loss, arguing that the move was speculative, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the agency had acted reasonably in doing so.
The decision, which overturns a 2014 ruling by a lower court, means federal agencies would be allowed to use climate change projections to protect a variety of wildlife that are likely to be affected by habitat loss and other environmental impacts in the coming decades.
“This is a huge victory for bearded seals and shows the vital importance of the Endangered Species Act in protecting species threatened by climate change,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity who argued the case. “This decision will give bearded seals a fighting chance while we work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions melting their sea-ice habitat and keep dirty fossil fuels in the ground.”
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