January 23, 2008
Walruses Feel the Heat, Too
Posted by Alisha Fowler under global warming | Tags: chukchi sea, energy, environment, global warming, polar bear, walrus, wildlife |[2] Comments
January 17, 2008
Americans, Congress Criticize Delay in Polar Bear Listing
Posted by Alisha Fowler under global warming | Tags: alaska, chukchi sea, climate change, energy, gas, global warming, oil, polar bear |[3] Comments
Today the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing: “On thin ice: the future of the polar bear.” The room was full, and there was a fairly good turnout of at least eight Congressmen and women. Children were among those in attendance, their eyes wide as they absorbed the strong words that flew from all sides of the room. Some “polar bears” even made an appearance, positioning themselves for coverage on C-SPAN and holding up signs.
Chairman Markey called the hearing today to press the Department of the Interior about its decision to delay the listing of the polar bear as threatened — under the Endangered Species Act — for up to one month, and to simultaneously offer up almost 30 million acres of the Chukchi Sea — the polar bear’s habitat — for oil and gas lease sales on Feb. 6, before the decision is made. The hearing also provided a forum to learn more about the plight of the polar bear and the potential impacts drilling could have on polar bear populations. Markey called this hearing because people are paying attention; several editorials have been run in major papers in the US (Washington Post, NYTimes, LATimes, etc) regarding the status of this iconic species and our reckless oil habit – – the situation will not continue quietly if such pressure continues. If listed, the polar bear’s protection would be linked to the impacts of global warming — a first in history.
Throughout the course of the hearing it became overwhelmingly clear that the science surrounding the status of the polar bear is unequivocal. The threats posed to this great creature are tangible, quantifiable and ever increasing as we emit more global warming pollution each day. Congressman Inslee (D-WA) put it the best when he said that the polar bear is the largest canary in the largest coal mine regarding the future of our planet. And it is only with willful ignorance and habitual arrogance that we choose to ignore science for a temporary oil fix from the newly opened northern seas. Not only is drilling in the Chukchi Sea devastating for wildlife, it does nothing to help us move away from our addiction to oil.
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January 8, 2008
Polar Bear Decision Delayed, Oil & Gas Lease Sales Set to Go…
Posted by Alisha Fowler under global warming | Tags: alaska, chukchi sea, energy, gas, global warming, oil, polar bear, wildlife |Leave a Comment
The polar bear was once the world’s mostformidable predator. It now lies on the brink of extinction due to global warming and habitat loss. The bear and its habitat stand to gain some protections under the Endangered Species Act this year, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was due to make a decision about its “threatened” status by this Wednesday. The Service has, however, delayed the listing for up to one month!
This leaves the bear and its habitat unprotected. Coincidentally, one of the largest oil and gas lease sales is set to occur on February 6, in the Chukchi Sea off of the northwest coast of Alaska – a region we will pay more and more attention to as our world warms and the sea opens up for potential large-scale exploration, I mean preservation… The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service announced its plan to offer oil and gas exploration rights in February to 29.7 million acres in the remote Chukchi Sea off the northwest Alaskan coast. There are about 16,000 polar bears in the region. Such exploration would further stress the polar bear, and does nothing for our movement toward a clean energy future.
Both the decision to list the polar bear, and the decision to delay the oil and gas lease sale in the Chukchi Sea fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. You can contact Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, and petition the DOI to halt the sale of oil and gas leases in this northern sea, if there really is no connection between the two…
Also: TheGreenMiles entry about this on DailyKos.