SitNews is reporting on a recent decision out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska finding that a National Marine Fisheries Service rule declaring a population of bearded seals to be "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was inherently arbitrary and capricious. "Judge Beistline emphasized that 'the lack of any articulated discernable, quantified threat of extinction within the reasonably foreseeable future' was a critical failing of NMFS’s listing decision. The court also held the agency’s listing decision was procedurally defective in failing to comply with a statutory duty to adequately consider and respond to comments submitted by the State of Alaska."
Nice. The President and CEO of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association noted, "This decision is a win for science."