Endangered Species Act
The California Attorney General has been working to ensure that the federal government properly evaluates the impacts of global warming on endangered species, as required by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA prohibits federal agencies from taking any action that jeopardizes the survival of an endangered species or destroys or adversely modifies its habitat. Rising temperatures, drought, loss of habitat, loss of food sources, and extreme weather events are some of the ways in which climate change will affect species and their habitats.
Polar Bear
In February 2005, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list the polar bear as threatened under the ESA, primarily due to the impact of climate change on habitat crucial to the bear's survival. A year later, FWS issued a finding that listing the polar bear as threatened "may be warranted" under the Act, and requested public comment. In April 2006, the Attorney General sent a comment letter to FWS urging it to take all necessary steps to list the polar bear as threatened. The fate of the polar bear, perhaps the most prominent of many climate-dependent species, is a leading indicator of the growing threats posed by climate change to many of California's native species, sensitive coastline, major coastal cities and ports, and its water supply and agricultural industry, among other things. On May 14, 2008, the FWS listed the polar bear as a threatened species. Read the comment letter. 
[PDF 106 kb / 7 pg]
Black Abalone
In June 2007, the Attorney General filed comments with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) supporting a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity to list the black abalone as endangered under the ESA. The black abalone serves as an indicator species for the health of California's marine ecosystems. Like other marine species, its survival is imperiled by a combination of overlapping factors, including decades of over-harvest, disease, and most recently, impacts from global climate change. The letter asked NMFS to evaluate the present and future global warming related impacts faced by the black abalone in the agency's listing process. In January 2008, NMFS released a draft status report, which concluded that the black abalone faced extinction and recommended listing it as "endangered," and listing water temperatures associated with El Niño events and climate change as a factor in the species decline. Read the comment letter. [PDF 68 kb / 8 pg]
Five-Year Reviews
In May 2008, the Attorney General submitted comment letters to the FWS requesting that it evaluate the impacts of global warming on each of 58 wildlife and plant species in California and Nevada. The ESA requires FWS to review the status of each species listed under the act at least once every five years and to consider any new information that may have a bearing on the species' classification as endangered or threatened. The Attorney General’s comment letters identified specific impacts of global warming on some of the species being reviewed and pointed out the likelihood that global warming is also hampering the recovery of the listed species in other, as yet unobserved, ways. The letters urged FWS to recommend active and on-going research on the impact of global warming on the individual species and how that impact can be mitigated. Read the comment letters.