As President Bush's tenure comes to a close, independent experts and administration insiders are delivering their assessments of his government's performance over the past eight years. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has posted his own verdict on his department's Web site, and the upshot is that he did great.
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The fact sheet states: "After months of careful study and the development of new, cutting edge scientific techniques to properly identify, track and predict the effect of declining sea ice on polar bear populations worldwide, the Department proposed and then listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The Department further developed a Polar Bear action plan to help protect the bear." But Kempthorne has emphasized repeatedly that this decision cannot lead to federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions, even though such emissions are fueling the warming that is shrinking the sea ice on which polar bears depend for survival.
In a news conference with reporters last month, Kempthorne said it is impossible to prove that greenhouse gas emissions from sources such as coal-fired power plants in the continental United States threaten the polar bear's survival. "We do not believe the science is there to make the causal link between activities in the Lower 48 to the take of a polar bear," he said.
David Moulton, who directs climate policy and conservation funding for the Wilderness Society, an advocacy group, wrote in an e-mail that Kempthorne should not praise the department for its actions when it has not taken sufficient measures. "The bear is threatened because its habitat is melting as a result of global warming. The secretary apparently has studied why he CAN'T help fight global warming on behalf of the polar bear, but he hasn't any suggestions about how he CAN," Moulton wrote, using capital letters for emphasis. "His 'Polar Bear action plan to help protect the bear' is a furry flight of fancy. He threw the bear a lifeline that was too short, and is now patting himself on the back for trying."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/31/AR2008123102833.html