Action timeline

February 1, 2007 – The Center filed a petition with six cabinet secretaries at the departments of the interior, commerce, agriculture, energy, transportation, and defense, as well as with the Environmental Protection Agency. The petition asked the federal government to adopt new regulations to take all possible, legally authorized actions to counteract global warming and the other powerful forces driving species extinct — actions including improved habitat protection, addressing climate change and safeguarding scientific decisions from political interference.

November 15, 2007 – The Center won a major lawsuit against the Department of Transportation after the agency failed to account for greenhouse gas emissions properly when it set unreasonably low national fuel-economy standards for pick-up trucks and sport utility vehicles. The following month, Congress mandated an increase in fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon for all passenger vehicles by 2020.

September 13, 2010 – The Center for Biological Diversity and Care for the Wild International released a report called Extinction: It’s Not Just for Polar Bears documenting 17 Arctic animalsoffering a dramatic look at 17 Arctic species, from Arctic foxes to whales to plankton, struggling to survive the effects of climate change and ocean acidification.

Photo courtesy Flickr/Eric Kilby