Polar Bears can Save the World
Jan. 2nd, 2007 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theoriginalblurkerAround this time last year, a study was undertaken in order to determine whether or not polar bears should be given some type of endangered status. I'm happy to see that the Secretary of the Interior is asking to list polar bears as a threatened species.
I would really like to see the science of Global Warming get a foothold in the administration this way. However,
More at the article.
I think, however sad it may be, that the fact that polar bears are attractive and well-loved species may help this country push our way into curbing greenhouse emissions more than all of the increases in childhood asthma, allergies, and emphysema put together. You go, polar bears! Save our planet with your deceivingly cuddly good looks! :)
Take a look at some of these email responses to the article.
CNN) -- Polar bears may be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act because of a loss of habitat that jeopardizes their survival, the Interior secretary said Wednesday.
"Polar bears are one of nature's ultimate survivors, able to live and thrive in one of the world's harshest environments," said Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne in a teleconference with reporters.
"But we are concerned the polar bears' habitat may literally be melting," he said.
After a public comment period and additional study, the Department of the Interior will make a final decision on the polar bear's status in 12 months.
The announcement by the Bush administration comes in response to a lawsuit filed by three conservation groups, who sued the Department of the Interior in an effort to protect the polar bear from the effects of global warming.
I would really like to see the science of Global Warming get a foothold in the administration this way. However,
Kempthorne said the proposal to consider polar bears threatened involved the receding sea ice that the animals use for hunting. While he acknowledged that the melting ice is the result of climate change, Kempthorne stressed that the broader aspects of global warming are beyond the scope of the Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency that enforces it.
More at the article.
I think, however sad it may be, that the fact that polar bears are attractive and well-loved species may help this country push our way into curbing greenhouse emissions more than all of the increases in childhood asthma, allergies, and emphysema put together. You go, polar bears! Save our planet with your deceivingly cuddly good looks! :)
Take a look at some of these email responses to the article.
