ANCHORAGE, Alaska , May 21, 2008
Alaska Will Sue Over Polar Bears
Gov. Sarah Palin Says There Is Not Enough Evidence To Support Threatened Species Distinction
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The state of Alaska will sue to challenge the recent listing of polar bears as a threatened species, the governor announced. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
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Play CBS Video Video Polar Bears On Thin Ice The U.S. government declared the polar bear to be a "threatened" species and agreed that global warming has caused the polar bear's icy homeland to melt. Daniel Sieberg reports.
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Video Polar Bears Endangered "CBS News RAW": Amid predictions that two thirds of the polar bear population could disappear by the end of this century, the Arctic dweller has been declared an endangered species. NO AUDIO
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Photo Essay Bears Of Alaska CBS News takes an up-close look at the brown bears of the McNeil River State Sancuary in Alaska.
Gov. Sarah Palin and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts.
Palin argued Wednesday that there is not enough evidence to support a listing. Polar bears are well-managed and their population has dramatically increased over 30 years as a result of conservation, she said.
Climate models that predict continued loss of sea ice, the main habitat of polar bears, during summers are unreliable, said Palin, a Republican.
The announcement drew a strong response from the primary author of the listing petition.
"She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Alaska deserves better."
Siegel said it was unconscionable for Palin to ignore overwhelming evidence of global warming's threat to sea ice, the polar bear's habitat.
"Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming," she said. "The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."
As marine mammals, polar bears are regulated by the federal government, not the state. U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne last week made the listing decision and said it was based on three findings.
"First, sea ice is vital to polar bear survival. Second, the polar bear's sea-ice habitat has dramatically melted in recent decades. Third, computer models suggest sea ice is likely to further recede in the future," he said.
Summer sea ice last year shrank to a record low, about 1.65 million square miles, nearly 40 percent less than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000.
Polar bears rely on sea ice for hunting ringed seals. In recent years, summer sea ice has receded far beyond the relatively shallow, biologically rich waters of the outer continental shelf, giving polar bears less time in prime feeding areas.
The bear's numbers rebounded after the 1970s, but conservation groups contend that was in response to measures taken to stop over-hunting.
Polar bear researchers fear recent effects of the loss of sea ice on Alaska polar bear populations. A 2006 study by the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that far fewer polar bear cubs in the Beaufort Sea were surviving and that adult males weighed less and had smaller skulls than those captured and measured two decades previously - trends similar to observations in Canada's western Hudson Bay before a population drop.
A U.S. Geological Survey study completed last year as part of the petition process predicted polar bears in Alaska could be wiped out by 2050.
Kempthorne said last week he considered every point Palin made, and rejected them.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 52 CommentsDid the fact that Ethanol is a hydrocarbon also escape you and that the burning and production of it actually puts more CO2 into the atmosphere than gasoline? How does that alleviate global warming?
TKTK53
Posted by hunterdon6
From what I can tell, most environmentalists are elitists, and yes, their motto is, "Do as I say, not as I do." As long as they have theirs, to H E L L with the rest of us.
Posted by cornbiker at 10:03 AM : May 22, 2008
2/3 of his brain remained in the corps. And he only went in with half a brain to start off....so he''s really working from an 82 IQ. LOL
Oh, it''s not that enviro-wack jobs don''t want drilling. They just don''t want the US to drill.
Posted by corey2444 at 10:08 AM : May 22, 2008
So what are your solutions? It''s easy to say drill for more oil and harvest all forms of energy, but HOW do you propose it gets done?
Do you really think that there AREN''T people that are working on the problem?
Your solution is like someone that is broke saying, "I need more money!!!" to solve their problems. Yes more money would solve their problems, but HOW they get it is the issue - just like our energy crisis.
these neocons have way too much time on their hands listening to the Viagra King of the Dominican Republic Limbaugh.
normally I put people above animals but not when it comes to Alaska''s neocronies who wet their pants everytime they hear the phrase global warming.
Posted by terikrause at 09:14 AM : May 22, 2008
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I agree with your post....
Posted by maxify55 at 08:56 AM : May 22, 2008
You say "do your research before opening your mouth", and THEN you say that there are 2000 years worth of oil in Canada.
At current production rates, they have an estimated 182 years of reserve life - Mexico has 10. Saudi Arabia has 81. And those are at CURRENT production levels - of course they are going to increase over time.
Follow your own advice, and do some legitimate research yourself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves#Estimated_reserves_in_order
This is what happens when lobbyists and big business have more influence over our elected politicians than common sense, scientific facts, or even population counts of the bears.
She will listen to the "findings" of big business, in spite of the fact that there are THOUSANDS of less polar bears than just a few years ago, their habit is disappearing rapidly, and even the seals they eat are having to move to dry land habitats because of shrinking sea ice.
She''ll eventually lose an election because of it, but by then the damage will be done.
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The ice has melted and now polar bears will be extinct in just a couple of decades.
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How long must we sit idly by while our mother continues to suffer from the warming taking place at a feverish pace? How long must our mother suffer before we have proper c02 taxes put into place? How long must the destruction of mother earth take place before we finally put responsible plans into action? How long must we wait until we beef up our corn ethanol production? At least Obama wants to cut c02 pollution by 80%; he is definitely our best hope.
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We the people call upon the governor to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; our ice sheets have melted, bears will soon be extinct, and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will allow the bears to survive. We need action now.
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