The Regime recently decided to auction oil leases in the Chukchi Sea which is prime polar bear habitat in the United States. It has yet to issue a decision on whether to protect the polar bear which is suffering from impacts of climate change. The decision has been delayed despite considerable scientific evidence that the bear's habitat is shrinking and bear populations declining rapidly. Last week the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would miss the statutory deadline for making a final decision on the threatened status of the Arctic's apex predator. An announced thirty day delay would allow Lease Sale 193 to go forward on February 6th before the Endangered Species Act decision is made. Habitat that could be designated critical for the bear and the thirty million acres up for sale of drilling rights overlap. Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming called the Regime's ploy "regulatory insanity". In his letter to Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne Rep. Markey asked that the lease sale be delayed until a final decision on the bear's status is made. He has introduced legislation in the House to delay the sale. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has also written asking that the polar bear's legal status be determined first. [photo credit National Geographic Society]
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Another Sacrifice on the Altar of Oil
The Regime recently decided to auction oil leases in the Chukchi Sea which is prime polar bear habitat in the United States. It has yet to issue a decision on whether to protect the polar bear which is suffering from impacts of climate change. The decision has been delayed despite considerable scientific evidence that the bear's habitat is shrinking and bear populations declining rapidly. Last week the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would miss the statutory deadline for making a final decision on the threatened status of the Arctic's apex predator. An announced thirty day delay would allow Lease Sale 193 to go forward on February 6th before the Endangered Species Act decision is made. Habitat that could be designated critical for the bear and the thirty million acres up for sale of drilling rights overlap. Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming called the Regime's ploy "regulatory insanity". In his letter to Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne Rep. Markey asked that the lease sale be delayed until a final decision on the bear's status is made. He has introduced legislation in the House to delay the sale. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has also written asking that the polar bear's legal status be determined first. [photo credit National Geographic Society]