The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit to compel the Bush administration to protect the North Pacific Right Whale under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Department of the Interior has proposed opening areas in the Bering Sea frequented by the species to offshore oil development. The North Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica), once ranging from Baja California to Alaska, is the most endangered large whale in the world, with perhaps as few as 100 individuals remaining. Devastated by commercial whaling, North Pacific Right Whales face the threat of oil and gas development in their critical habitat.

In another move, the Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed to move the Polar Bear to the endangered species list as reported by National Geographic News.  This move could force the US to look more seriously at the problem of Global Warming.Such a decision would require all federal agencies to ensure that anything they authorize that might affect polar bears will not jeopardize their survival or the sea where they live.