Posted on 05/09/2009 4:11:43 PM PDT by Delacon
Today the Obama administrations Department of Interior announced that it would keep a Bush administration rule [1] forbidding government scientists from considering global warming when protecting polar bears pursuant to the Endangered Species Act.
When the Bush Interior Department announced their rule, they were roundly [2] criticized [3] by the enviro-left [4]. It will be interesting to see how they react to the Obama administration taking the same position.
More interesting is how the Obama EPA justified their decision. McClatchy reports [1]:
On Friday, the Interior Department reluctantly agreed, saying that its scientifically impossible to use the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gases, which are contributing to the warming of the earth and the resulting melting of bears habitat in Alaska. The emissions from a cement plant in Georgia, for example, cant be tied directly to the precipitous decline in polar ice, Salazar said.
But neither can the emissions from just one car tailpipe be tied directly to global warming. So by that same logic, the EPA has no business regulating carbon emissions pursuant to the Clean Air Act. [5] If it is scientifically impossible to use the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gases than it is also scientifically impossible to use the CAA to regulate greenhouse gasses.
After all, The ESA is a far more powerful law than the CAA, especially if your aim is to shut down carbon emissions. Section 7 of the ESA requires all federal agencies [6] to consult with either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) for any action authorized, funded, or carried out. [6]
In other words, every action funded by the federal government has the potential to be shut down by the ESA. All that billions of infrastructure funding in Obamas $787 stimulus bill? It all would increase carbon emissions, so the ESA could kill it all.
No wonder Obama threw the polar bears under the bus.
ping
‘Cuz they’re white?
Obama’s prejudiced against white bears
Same thought I had.
There is no such thing as hypocrisy on the left.
Who cares?
I want to know why he hates the U.S.
thanks, bfl
You beat me to it.
Because they are white. Period.
Long as the view is from the back, they should be okay!
Obama is from Hawaii; polar bears have nothing to do with him.
He doesn’t hate polar bears, he loves seals.
Only on the outside...
I have photos of red polar bears. Red from the blood of the animal they just tore apart and ate
In that film they showed the Eskimo's hunting polar bear, and I was really amazed at how these bears plunged into the ocean as if they as happy in the ocean as on land.
Now, when I see the environmentalists queue up the violin music when they show pictures of polar bears "stranded" on little ice bergs it just makes me went to puke.
The name of that movie, BTW, which I can't recommend strongly enough, is simply "Eskimo". Not only is it a great movie with a great story, but it provides amazing insights into the very interesting (and touching) Eskimo life. Here is a link to it:
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