Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has come to clash with the federal government on the issue of polar bears. The arctic predator, which hunts on declining sea ice, has grown to its largest population in decades — over 20,000 today over as little as 8,000 in 1960. Despite this successful recovery, the Department of Interior lists this species as threatened due to climate change models. Alaskan lawmakers argue that the science is flawed, showing conflicting federal research that show arctic thaws as soon as 2013, as late as 2050, or never at all.
