Regulatory Games and the Polar Bear, editorial in today's New York Times
by Christine.Kraft

I have a friend who is hard at work in the Bering Sea region for World Wildlife Fund. She wrote to me today expressing joy over the publication of today's NYT editorial urging Congress to intervene on behalf of the Polar Bear prior to the sale of large-scale oil leases in prime Polar Bear habitat. I excerpt below:

"...The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service has announced that early next month it will sell oil and gas leases on nearly 30 million acres of prime polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea. Meanwhile, the department’s Fish and Wildlife Service has postponed a long-awaited decision on whether to place this iconic and troubled animal on the list of threatened species.

These two moves are almost certainly, and cynically, related. Listing the polar bear as threatened would trigger a range of protective actions. Delaying that listing gives the Department of Interior just enough time to move ahead with the lease sales without having to deal with the bear while avoiding an embarrassing bureaucratic squabble..."

Read the full opinion at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/

Stay tuned for the results of the Senate hearing expected this week.

Submitted by Christine.Kraft (view blog) on Tue, 01/15/2008 - 21:17

Comments

 

It's interesting to me that

It's interesting to me that Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska has said she doesn't favor listing polar bears as endangered. There are more polar bears today than there were 40 years ago.

Chilihead

Don't Try This at Home

Submitted by Melanie Nelson on Tue, 01/15/2008 - 19:52
 

I agree with you, the Gov of Alaska's
position is interesting

Quoting an October 2007 Anchorage Daily News report http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/story/9418885p-9331580c.html , Alaska's Governor Pallin was also "...reported to have said that too little is understood about global climate change and its effect on polar bear populations to support listing the bears under the act at this time."

That's why now is a good time to double and triple check whether the sale of land for oil exploration is in Alaska's and the country's best interests. What is there to lose?

For the U.S. Fish & Wildlife's brief on the status of the Polar Bear:
http://alaska.fws.gov/fisheries/mmm/polarbear/issues.htm

Multiple truths are at work in this debate. I know that with a commitment to continuing the dialog, we'll find a way to balance competing interests with an eye toward the planet's biodiversity. Science and technology and commerce are united here, but there are radically different time frames and expectations coming to bear in the name of "balance." I think it is optimistic that this debate is raging most ferociously inside the Department of the Interior.

Watch for the hearing this week.

Submitted by Christine.Kraft on Wed, 01/16/2008 - 03:17
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