A U.S. district judge in California ruled yesterday that the Bush administration has until May 15 to decide whether or not to put the polar bear on the endangered species list. The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin notes that the decision goes against the wishes of Interior Dept. Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who wanted to hold off making a decision until June 30.

But Kempthorne was originally supposed to decide in January and his delay led to three environmental groups suing him. Kassie Siegel, the lead petitioner in getting the Dept. to look at the animal’s status, called the judge’s ruling “a huge victory for the polar bear.”  Maybe a victory in the fight against bureaucratic inaction as well.  Read Eilperin here.  MB

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