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Polar Bear Still Awaits Decision to Go on Endangered Species List

January 21, 2008 - You may recall my brief report at the start of January saying I would keep you updated with the endangered status of the polar bears, which was to be announced mid-January (the 9th to be exact). Well, it appears we are going to have to wait a little longer as the Interior Department delays its decision even longer. Following a hearing on Capitol Hill this last week in which the Congress asked the Interior Department why the polar bear had not yet been put on the Endangered Species Act, rumors are now abounding.

The most critical and I dare say ugly of these rumors is the one proposed by the Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. The Committe claims the Interior Department is buying time to sell more polar bear habitat to oil companies. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), these accusations have some merit, for another branch of the Interior Department is currently considering whether to lease a large plot of polar bear habitat to oil and gas drilling interests. According to the Congressional hearing, approximately 30 million acres in the Chuckchi Sea are part of a deal that oil companies are trying to push through by next month. And yes, this is prime polar bear habitat.

Representatives from the Interior Department have already testified that the potential of an oil spill having a negative impact on the polar bears (like there's anything positive about an oil spill) has increased over the years. And exploiting the Chuckchi Sea to oil drilling would certainly raise the risk level more. According to global warming forecasts, the polar bear population could likely decline by two-thirds in the next fifty years.

The Interior Department's excuse for the delay is that it needs more time to determine if the polar bear's habitat is indeed in a "critical" state. Well, we all know the artic ice is melting and that global warming is the primary cause for the rate of this melting. Wait, I take that back. Not everybody knows that. Since the debate on global warming could go on till the last polar bear drowns, the bottom line is that a beautiful species of life is being threatened. Oil and gas drilling in the area, not to mention more Carbon Dioxide emissions from said oil is not going to help the polar bear.

Chairman Edward Markey of Massachusetts put it the best when he said that "man can adapt, but the polar bear cannot". I agree that the United States must end its dependency on oil in the Middle East. But I don't think oil drilling is the answer, especially when we are talking about putting an entire species at risk. Putting more funds, time and energy into developing alternatives to oil is the path we should be taking. Let's hope the Interior Department has the courage and wisdom to see through the fog.