The polar bears will drown the US energy industry, not themselves.
By skicougar Posted in Energy — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Yes, I know; we all love the cute coca-cola polar bears, but the truth is they are not dying out or drowning and are not worthy of putting on the endangered species list at the expense of our economy..
Instead, polar bears have increased their numbers substantially, from an estimated 8,000–10,000 in 1965–1970 to 20,000–25,000 today. Clearly, any warming that has occurred has not had an adverse impact on polar bear numbers. This is true of the polar bear populations in Alaska, Canada, Russia, and other nations.
Putting the polar bears on the endangered list would also likely put an end to any chances of opening up a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil—nearly 15 years worth of current imports from Saudi Arabia. Legislative proposals to open ANWR have faltered in Congress, but a polar bear listing would be the nail in the coffin. Other promising onshore areas could also be restricted. The fact that extensive oil drilling has been underway for decades in Prudhoe Bay and elsewhere in Alaska without harm to polar bears is something that should carry weight under the ESA, but probably will not.
Putting them on the list gives environmentalists a big foot in many corporations doors, since the rationale for putting polar bears on the endangered list is that carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use contributes to warming and thus harms the bears. The Endangered Species Act could give the Department Of Interior authority to go after new power plants, factories, or just about any fossil energy-producing or energy-using entity in the U.S.—precisely the kind of sweeping controls environmental activists had hoped to achieve through climate change legislation. That scenario is not far-fetched. At the very least, the Department Of Interior would certainly get sued continually if it declined to aggressively move against such activities resulting in further slow downs for US energy production and increased costs to US companies.
So, tell GW to not put polar bears on the endangered species act today as he will decide on Thursday.