Offshore oil and gas exploration in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea could face delays or even be halted after a US federal judge ordered the Department of Interior to decide within 2 weeks whether to list polar bears as an endangered species.US District Judge Claudia Wilken said oil industry operations in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, where one fifth of all polar bears live, “could jeopardize the continued existence of the species” unless it is protected under the Endangered Species Act.She rejected the DOI argument that waiting longer to consider the ESA listing would not pose a threat to the bears because the species is already protected under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (O...