Administration: Polar bear ‘threatened’ by global warming, but Arctic drilling can continue.
By on May 14th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Administration: Polar bear ‘threatened’ by global warming, but Arctic drilling can continue.
After years of delay, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne finally declared the polar bear a “threatened species,” under the Endangered Species Act, due to global warming. Yet at the same time, Kempthorne also decreed that drilling in the Arctic can still continue:
This rule, effective immediately, will ensure the protection of the bear while allowing us to continue to develop our natural resources in the arctic region in an environmentally sound way.
Kempthorne’s decision calls into question the legality of a Feb. 6 sale of oil and gas drilling right in polar bear habitat, when the ESA decision was being illegally delayed. Go to the Wonk Room for in-depth analysis.
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In a regime where veterans who have risked their lives to shore up the morally bankrupt policies of a petty despot are mere pawns in a political game, what hope does the polar bear have?
May 14th, 2008 at 4:17 pmA person cannot drill into pristine tundra and do it in an environmentally sound way. It is impossible. Gas is running out in about 60 years. That is fact. Why would we want to soil the arctic to find gas that won’t be at the pump for at least 5-8 years and it won’t dent the thirst for demand? Here’s a strange thought: Why not come up with an energy alternative before we are burning driftwood to propel our cars? Does being prepared ahead of time make sense to the corrupt GOP?
May 14th, 2008 at 4:20 pmanymouse20 Says:
Why not drill for oil that we can have for market in 5-6 years (or would have already had by now if we would have started 5-6 years ago), at the same time as we continue to work on alternative energy sources?
May 14th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
______
Why not take the last unspoiled wilderness in North America and utterly destroy it so we can have six months of gas for our SUVs? Why not contribute to the destruction of a vital ecosystem already threatened by climate change? Why not, for once, put immediate needs ahead of the long-term survival of our species? Why not indeed?
May 14th, 2008 at 4:36 pmDrilling in polar bear habitat is a good thing. We may find more domestic oil and in the massive amounts of manpower, the polar bears, in a time of dwindling food sources, will find they have a tasty new source of nourishment.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:38 pmHow about we drill directly into the polar bears, bypassing all the ugly environmental destruction!
May 14th, 2008 at 4:49 pmAn administration that knows nothing about “cause and effect” are responsible for hiring zooligists to study the polar bear and their problems …………The problem with that is that those in the Chimpy administration believe that zoology is the study of zoos.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:51 pmhussein toasterhead Says:
Why not take the last unspoiled wilderness in North America and utterly destroy it so we can have six months of gas for our SUVs?
Utterly destroy it? The several thousand acres in a huge preserve in a huge state and it is going to be “utterly destroyed”? C’mon, Toasterhead, that is pretty wild hyperbole, doncha think?
Before you unleash, remember that I am a clean energy advocate; fossil fuels are stupid, solar or geothermal and all electric cars the obvious solution. But the debate is not helped by hysterical assertions.
The Bears were put on the list not because of drilling or ANWAR but because of melting sea ice. Those two things are only very very very distantly related. Meantime, the taxis still need fuel.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:55 pmKeltoi Says:
Utterly destroy it? The several thousand acres in a huge preserve in a huge state and it is going to be “utterly destroyed”? C’mon, Toasterhead, that is pretty wild hyperbole, doncha think?
May 14th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
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Talk to the residents of the huge states around the Niger Delta in Nigeria – they’ll tell you all about the environmental effects of oil drilling.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pmYour point about HTH’s hyperbole aside, I find it amusing that you think DRILLING FOR OIL and ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE are “only very very very distantly related”.
Besides all that, any oil extracted from ANWAR would likely go to Asia for processing, not the U. S.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pmMeantime, the taxis still need fuel.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:09 pm??
The polar bears don’t use taxis, last I heard.
ralph the wonder llama Says:
Your point about HTH’s hyperbole aside, I find it amusing that you think DRILLING FOR OIL and ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE are “only very very very distantly related”.
Well, the argument rebounds on itself. If there is so little oil in ANWAR, then getting it to market isn’t going to make much difference in the global warming scheme of things cause it is such an itty-bitty resource, right?
As far as Niger goes, I am thinking their version of the EPA is ever so slightly less exacting than ours.
Not that it matters. McCain and Obama both are against drilling there, so the argument is purely academic.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:25 pmThe argument hardly “rebounds on itself”. I just figured you would be able to get that two phenomena (the search for fossil fuels to burn and the impact on the environment of burning those fossil fuels) are pretty directly connected. I guess I was wrong.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pmZed Lefflin Says:
Why do we always get the wasted trolls in the afternoon?
May 14th, 2008 at 5:39 pmgood ol’ SHIMKUS came to my town the other day, pandering for votes…
with our local paper’s water carrier / stenographer on hand to document…
Shimkus wants to open up Arctic drilling
Bill Grimes
Effingham Daily News
U.S. Rep. John Shimkus said Monday Americans are at the “tipping point” when it comes to wanting Congress to do something about gasoline prices that are nearing $4 per gallon — not to mention diesel fuel prices already more than $4 per gallon.
Shimkus, R-Collinsville, said the key is developing more domestic sources of fuel, whether it be through opening offshore areas to energy exploration, allowing drilling in the huge Arctic Circle oil basin, or providing incentives to build plants that would convert coal to various types of liquid fuel.
“Are we at a tipping point?” Shimkus asked. “If we are, we have some options.”
Shimkus said the United States controls plenty of potential oil-rich areas. But he said Congress needs to pass laws removing restrictions on offshore and Arctic drilling.
“We are the only industrialized nation to not go after our own natural resources,” the congressman said.
[...]
Arctic drilling, he said, wouldn’t take place until at least 10 years after its approval.
oh yea… there’s that little hang up…
check out the picture there… charts and pictures and graphs! oh my!
every thing he said was b.s. …
this is rich:
Moreover, foes of Arctic drilling claim energy development in that area would damage one of the world’s most pristine ecosystems at relatively little benefit to the oil-consuming public.
Shimkus said pending legislation would lift existing restrictions. Moreover, he said, tax revenues from increased domestic oil production would enable the public and private sectors to develop solar and wind energy projects.
legislation will take care of those pesky restrictions… and, oh sure, tax revenues
May 14th, 2008 at 6:14 pmwill develop alternative energy… ’cause it’s done so much so far…
…
Their SOOO cute. Can we feed Ted Stevens to them? Make sure they don’t choke on his “incredible hulk” tie..
May 14th, 2008 at 8:32 pm