Oil Politics Alleged in Polar Bear Decision

Oil Politics Alleged in Polar Bear Decision
by Zachary Coile


Washington - California Sen. Barbara Boxer accused the Bush administration Wednesday of delaying a decision on whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species so it could finish its oil lease sales in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, where one-fifth of the world’s polar bears live.


“The administration went ahead and accepted bids, even though oil and gas activities may disturb polar bears making a den, and even though an oil spill could pose big risks to the polar bear population,” said Boxer, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The Interior Department has been under fire from environmentalists and lawmakers for missing a deadline under federal law to decide whether to list the polar bear as endangered.

The polar bear is the first species being considered for a listing as endangered because of global warming. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey predict that two-thirds of the world’s polar bears could be extinct by 2050 as the Arctic sea ice melts.

Boxer called Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to testify at a hearing on the polar bear listing decision, but he notified her Tuesday that he would not appear as a witness.

In a letter released Wednesday, Kempthorne said he could not testify because his agency is in litigation with environmental groups over the polar bear decision. Kempthorne, a former Idaho Republican senator who once served on the committee, pledged to come back to discuss the decision after it is announced.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/03/8062/

they don't pay taxes and they don't use petroleum products....

see ya, later endangered species wannabees....

does anything this administration and 'willing' congress do surprise anyone?

Ms. Boxer and her cronies have stopped us from drilling for Alaska's 40 billion barrels of oil, more than all of the mid-East oil combined and enough to make us energy independent for 30 years.

to pillage Alaska for some potential oil? It's not okay with me.

Second, ANWR has somewhere in the range of 10 billion barrels, per http://www.doi.gov/news/030312.htm

The US, burning 21 billion barrels per DAY (7.6 billion barrels per year), would tear through ANWR's entire recoverable reserves in under 1.5 years.

Even assuming your figure of 40 billion barrels, at 7.6 billion barrels per year, we'd use that amount up in under 6 years, not 30!

hyperbole. shilling for the oil stooges I see.

I hope you enjoyed your stay.

> ... if sea ice melts as environmentalists predict.

This should be "if sea ice continues to melt as scientists have observed
(and predict to get worse)".

:grr: