AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 24, 2008

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE-2007-08 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 41

Introduced by Assembly Member Lieu

January 16, 2008

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 41—Relative to endangered species.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AJR 41, as amended, Lieu. Endangered species.

This measure would memorialize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to adopt a final rule to extend the federal Endangered Species Act protections to advance certain penguin species to the next stage in the federal Endangered Species Act listing process, if that agency determines that the decision is scientifically justified, with a formal proposal to list them as threatened or endangered.
Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Some of the world’s most remarkable species are threatened by global warming, industrial fisheries, marine pollution, oil spills, and other factors; and

WHEREAS, More than one-half of the world’s 19 penguin species are in danger of extinction, yet only one, the Galapagos penguin, is currently listed under the federal Endangered Species Act; and

WHEREAS, Polar bears, the largest of the world’s bear species, live only in the Arctic, and are also threatened with extinction as global warming causes catastrophic environmental change in the Arctic that is rapidly melting away the bears’ essential Arctic sea-ice habitat; and

WHEREAS, Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are causing global average temperatures to increase, and the temperature increases in the Arctic and Antarctic are far greater than the global average; and

WHEREAS, In the Arctic, rising temperatures have already resulted in decreasing extent of sea ice, with the minimum extent of sea ice in 2007 1,000,000 square miles below the average
minimum of the past several decades, and less than forecast by most climate models for the year 2050; and

WHEREAS, The United States Geological Survey has concluded that under a “business as usual” greenhouse gas emissions trajectory, two-thirds of the world’s polar bears will be extinct by midcentury, including all of the bears in Alaska; and

WHEREAS, On July 11, 2007, in response to a scientific petition, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced it is officially in the process of considering protecting 10 penguin species, including the emperor, northern and southern rockhopper, macaroni, Humboldt, African, white-flippered, erect-crested, Fiordland crested, and yellow-eyed penguin; and

WHEREAS, On May 14, 2008, in response to a scientific petition, the United States Department of the Interior issued a decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the
federal Endangered Species Act due to the melting of the polar bear’s sea ice habitat, but concurrently issued a “special rule” to waive full protection of the polar bear and its habitat; and

WHEREAS, This protection would provide a vital safety net for these threatened penguin species and for polar bears on the brink of extinction, and also help alert the public to the preventable tragedy of their decline, including the fact that a rapid, dramatic
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to prevent the extinction of these species; and

WHEREAS, The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has missed the deadline to issue a 12-month petition finding for the 10 penguin species; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature commends the United States Department of the Interior for its decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act, and respectfully memorializes the department to extend to the polar bear and its habitat all of the protections mandated by that act; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully memorializes the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to advance the 10 penguin species proposed for protection to the next stage in the federal Endangered Species Act listing process, if that agency determines that the decision is scientifically justified, with a formal proposal to list them as threatened or endangered; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife, and to the author for appropriate distribution.