WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is proposing to reduce the environmental reviews federal agencies must undertake as part of the Endangered Species Act. The proposal could speed up commercial development, but environmentalists said the changes could threaten the protection of wildlife. The draft rules also would attempt to limit the use of the Endangered Species Act as a tool for fighting climate change. They would state that agencies don’t have to consult one another in cases where a project would have only an indirect effect on a threatened or endangered species. Bush administration officials described that aspect of the proposal as a way to prevent the act from becoming a ‘back door’ for regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions. Polar Bears were listed as a threatened species in May. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited such concerns in May when he announced his decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the act, following evidence that the loss of sea ice is threatening polar bears’ Arctic habitat. The draft rules would be subject to a 30-day public comment period before being finalized by the Interior Department, giving the administration time to impose them before the […]