Posted on 01/02/2007 1:38:53 PM PST by jazusamo
T he big, strong and beloved polar bear may at last achieve what thousands of scientists, economists, diplomats, conservationists and others have failed to accomplish: Persuade the Bush administration to respond to global warming.
Bush's U.S. Interior Department announced Dec. 27 that it is proposing to add polar bears to the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. By acknowledging that the polar bear literally is on thin ice, the Bush administration has at last been required to make a completely scientific pronouncement on global warming.
For six years now the Bush administration has feinted and dodged from its responsibilities on climate change. It withdrew President Clinton's approval of the Kyoto Accord, secretly watered down research on global warming and deliberately sowed doubt about minor uncertainties in the science to undermine states' and other nations' responses to climate change.
The administration also has consistently refused to require the auto and trucking industries to curtail the greenhouse gas emissions that an overwhelming number of scientists assert are the major cause of global warming. The White House has actively tried to stop the states, including Oregon, from adopting stricter tailpipe standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But not even the Bush administration can ignore the melting of the Arctic sea ice, or stomach the awful image of polar bears drowning in the open ocean, far from the nearest pack ice.
Polar bears are clearly in trouble, and so are other species, such as penguins, that depend on the same habitat. Experts on polar bears say that the adults they see are noticeably thinner, the mortality of cubs is much higher, and a few starving bears have even resorted to killing and eating other bears.
It will be at least a year before all the public hearings and environmental analyses are done and the federal government may formally add the polar bear to the Endangered Species List. But if and when that happens, there should be no more hiding from the responsibility to address global warming.
The Endangered Species Act requires decisions to be made "solely on the best available scientific information." The Bush administration never yet has been willing to make any global-warming decision on that basis.
But now it will have no choice. If the polar bear is listed as threatened, the government is bound by law to protect the bears -- and the polar ice they require to survive.
This was debunked over here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1761001/posts
I didn't know Oregon had polar bears........
I think every liberal should be required to give up his cars, heating, air-conditioning, and electricity to help the bears.
I knoe it's been debunked and thanks for posting the link. The moonbats at the Oregonian just don't know it yet.
President Clinton never approved the Kyoto Accord.
LOL! They don't, but that doesn't matter to the moonbats.
Personally I'm working as hard as I can on global warming. It's supposed to be 60 degrees here (D.C. area) on Thursday.
GO GLOBAL WARMING, GO!!!
I'll drive my huge Toyota Sequoia SUV the long way to work more often. And start the Firebird and let it idle in the driveway during the colder months.
Now... how to stop the global warming on Mars... Damn Martian SUV's...
That's a mere technicality to The Oregonian. :-)
"It withdrew President Clinton's approval of the Kyoto Accord,"
Civics 101- the Senate approves of treaties and they refused to even consider ratifying it, so Clinton never sent it to the Senate.
Gore "symbolically" signed it and Clinton said that he did too, a meaningless act and a lie, but no "approval".
"the polar ice they require to survive."
Maybe the polar ice that's in the US territory. Canadians will ned to look out for the vast ice fields around baffin Island and the Russians will need to take care of the ice around Kamchatka, not us.
Plant more banana trees!!! THat oughta do it!
Please don't confuse Libs with facts. It makes their heads explode.
"Plant more banana trees!!! THat oughta do it!"
What an idea! Then some goober in a gooberment agency will want to have a new division(with him as the head, of course) devoted to teaching polar bears to subsist on bananas.
;-)
.
..and fall through the ice.
Meanwhile, global petrol requirements go down as northern latitudes warm!
And all that northern oil (ANWR, etc.) becomes more easily accessible! BushCheneyHalliburton would have the cost of gas down to $0.30 a gallon if we could only get rid of the rest of those d@mn bears!
"This was debunked over here:"
The "exhausted" polar bear story was debunked months ago.
The real news is a Bush Admin department took up the story.
Early strike from the admin to prepare us for carbon trading schemes??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.