Alaska Will Sue Over Polar Bears
Gov. Sarah Palin Says There Is Not Enough Evidence To Support Threatened Species Distinction
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Photo
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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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.



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We all know that Republicans never met a scientist that they liked or belived, and besides, they all think the earth is 8,000 years old, carbon dating is a hoax, and GWB is a god.
Posted by kansas1946
Have you interviewed every Republican to be able to make a statement like that? That is not true. I am a Republican because I am capable of thinking clearly. I work at a University and I like a lot of the scientists there. I have been out in the geologic layers of the Colorado Plateau collecting and identifying the fossilized species of life in the various layers and have a lovely rock collection which ages go all the way back to the Precambrian layers found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There is actually one place on the planet where it is possible to obtain a sample of Zoraster Granite with an igneous intrusion of Pink Vishnu Schist because it is the only place it is exposed which is outside of the National Park. It is carbon dated at 2.7 billion years old. The creation of the Universe is believed to have begun about 4.7 billion years ago. I am also a Christian.
Either youth, stupidity, or intentional misinformation (or a combination of all three) is behind this statement. You forget that Angela Davis once ran for president, (1968) and was a proud Marxist, while Mr. Obama''s record shows him to be one or two degrees right of center.
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Posted by corey2444 at 06:19 AM : May 22, 2008
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Well when you compare what the young Senator from Illinois hasn''t done to the gross wrongs of Senator McSame... voting for that OLD fool would be the worst thing anyone could do. He has the SAME position as the Worst in our history on just about EVERY issue. So I guess IF you want to continue the insanity of the last 8 years vote for the ROCK McSame!! Sieg Heil Bush
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Posted by MommaKat64 at 05:20 AM : May 22, 2008
How do you know this? Oh LET me guess!! You have been playing with your Magic Swastika again. YOU do know the founders were "LIBERAL" ... NO let me say it as the KING did... they were RADICAL LIBERAL''s. YOU con Freaks?? YOU fought for the king! You losers have called just about EVERY social advancement in this nations history "Socialism"... No I''ll take that back as well, before the Joe McCarthy blow up you called them Communist. You have NEVER contributed ANY to a solution to any problems you promised to address... HISTORY clearly shows the only thing Conservatives are good for is complaining about any progress out of the dark ages! Now stand... let the fuhrer know you''re out here!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!! By the way where is the Rally this weekend?? Are they burning a cross??
The era of Horse & Buggy is OVER! Get real.
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Posted by corey2444 at 06:06 AM : May 22, 2008
Now WASN''T that the solution you fascist sold us in 1980? YOU were going to "fix" the energy problem by increasing drilling?? Now you fascist had complete control of the congress and you had the LIAR of all time in the White House for 6 years. Darth had his OWN energy Policy formed in secret in a backroom. YOU Nazi''s could have passed any law, made any change you wanted. PROBLEM?? Well it seems that any change in the off limits Oil Drilling would have to include brother JEB''s State... OOPS!! Your PARTY is a failure, your SECTRET Energy Policy is a FAILURE and your Leaders War for OIL is a COMPLETE Failure. Time to move on!! Now stand and be a good NAZI here!! Sieg Heil Bush!! Good bootlicker!!
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Posted by DSR57 at 07:33 AM : May 22, 2008
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Ah did I hurt your PRETEND feelings? You and YOUR party are FASCIST sparky... not my fault. Want me and the rest of the ENTIRE world to stop calling you what you are? CHANGE your ways swastika breath!! Your answer to EVERY problem is to "blame Lib''s"... doesn''t matter that You FREAKS have been in charge. Doesn''t matter that you nazi''s could have changed any law you wanted... NONE of that matters to you LOSERS!! Simply put.. YOU stop being fascist and I''ll stop calling you one. Now stand, let Darth and his SECRET Energy task force hear YOU!! Sieg Heil Bush!! Good bootlicker!!
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Posted by maxify55 at 07:37 AM : May 22, 2008
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Let''s get this straight... the Earth is begining to feel the effects of Global Warming... even your Fuhrer has to accept that fact. We MUST find a better way to develope energy... obviously you fascist haven''t a clue how to do that so you want to further distroy the Earth hunting for the last few drops. You losers came to power PROMISING to "fix" the problem... you not only didn''t "fix" the Problem, you NEVER do, you and Darth''s SECRET ENERGY POLICY has made it MUCH worse. Time to look in a different direction America... these tired old fascist have NO solutions except to blame OTHER American''s... Well unless you count Iraq!! ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356858,00.html
This is how the liberal families do it.
Posted by MCVet
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Thing is, you have no idea what party I support or if I support any parth at all!
So the fact that I commented on what you write ( Not your point of veiws exactly) The contsant Nazi references is what gets on my nerves.
You are very unoriginal and redundant.
And your choice of words really downplays what Jewish people went through in NAZI Germany.
It''s people like you that take the sting out of words and people like you that the word Mother F%^KER is pretty much used as a greeting more so that an insult.
I''m not a Liberal and I''m not a conservative.... But when I see you firing off your S**T Cannon Your just begging me to dissagree with everything that you say
SIEG HEIL MCVET ! ! !
THe wacko environmentalists prevent us from getting our own oil.....the assclowns in congress want to sue OPEC to produce more. We get most of our oil from Canada & Mexico. So sue OPEC???
Approval rating of 13%.....even lower than Bush. No wonder.
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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.
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.
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
Posted by terikrause at 09:14 AM : May 22, 2008
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I agree with your post....
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 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.
Oh, it''s not that enviro-wack jobs don''t want drilling. They just don''t want the US to drill.
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
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.
TKTK53
Did 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?
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