The state of Alaska has sued the United States federal government, arguing that listing polar bears as a threatened species will hurt Alaskan oil and gas exploration, fisheries and tourism.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington, seeks the withdrawal of a decision in May to list the Arctic bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act because climate change is melting their sea ice habitat.
Alaska's suit contends that the US Fish and Wildlife Service failed to consider that polar bears have survived through previous warming periods.
