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Check out the "Important Links to Sites about Polar Bears" in the sidebar to see organizations doing research and working to preserve the magnificent Polar Bear.

Protect a species, one bear at a time - Polar bears need your help now!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Suit Filed Over Arctic Oil Drilling in Alaska

Suit Filed Over Arctic Oil Drilling in Alaska

This week, the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne for blasting loopholes the size of polar bears and Pacific walrus in the Marine Mammal Protection Act when it comes to oil drilling in Alaska's Chukchi Sea.

When Kempthorne announced May 15 that the polar bear had been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, he also infamously argued that the bears merited no new protections, since they were already shielded by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Interior then exempted polar bears from both Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act standards that would bar oil companies from harassing or harming bears -- specifically, giving free rein to oil companies to conduct business worse than usual in the Chukchi Sea for the next five years.





Among the most unspoiled areas in Alaska's Arctic, the Chukchi Sea is home to most of the world's Pacific walrus and one of only two U.S. polar bear populations. In February, Interior auctioned off 2.7 million acres of the sea to oil companies, with more lease sales planned in 2010 and 2012. Under the administration's new rules, oil companies in the sea have free access to compromise polar bear and walrus habitat with new offshore oil rigs, sonic blasts, hundreds of miles of roads, increased disruptive ship and aircraft activity, and a 40-percent chance of an oil spill. All that in addition to creating more of the greenhouse gas emissions that are melting the animals' sea-ice habitat in the first place.



Reuters, July 9, 2008

Groups to sue over oil impacts to polar bears
By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Two environmental groups filed notice on Monday that they plan to sue the federal government for not imposing new regulations on oil development in Alaska's Arctic waters as part of offering protective status to polar bears.

Last month, polar bears were listed as threatened, a protective status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, but Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne also enacted a rule precluding oil operators from any new impediments other than those already required by Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment said the Interior Department is violating the Endangered Species Act by giving oil companies exploring the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas a pass from additional regulation.

Since the rapidly warming Arctic climate, not oil development, is the cause of the ice-dependent polar bears' woes, oil explorers should not face additional regulatory hurdles, according to Kempthorne.

"The only thing keeping pace with the drastic melting of the Arctic sea ice is the breakneck speed with which the Department of the Interior is rushing to sell off polar bear habitat for fossil fuel development," said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity in a statement.

The environmental groups, in their 60-day notice of their intent to sue, said the Interior Department must take steps to curb oil development's direct impacts nonetheless.

As offshore development expands, polar bears are at risk from noise and other disturbances caused by vessels, aircraft and drilling platforms, the deafening blasts of seismic tests and multiple oil and chemical spills, the groups said.

The center and Pacific Environment are two of the three groups that filed the original petition and lawsuit that prompted the threatened listing for the polar bear.

A spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which regulates polar bears, said he had not yet seen Monday's notice and could not comment specifically on it.

"In the finding for the Endangered Species listing, oil and gas development was not seen as one of the critical factors threatening the polar bear," said Bruce Woods, a spokesman for the service in Alaska.

Alaska's federally managed outer continental shelf, long considered too remote and costly to drill, is emerging as a hot prospect for new oil and gas exploration.

A February lease sale for the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska drew a record $2.66 billion in high bids, with $2.1 billion of bids coming from Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

BP, meanwhile, is moving to develop its Liberty prospect in the Beaufort into what would be the first producing Alaska oil field located entirely in federal waters.


Read More, See More Photos and Read the Comments . . . CLICK HERE

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Center for Biological Diversity - Take Action Now



Center for Biological Diversity

Protect Polar Bear Habitat, Take Action Now

Last month the Bush administration was forced to recognize the serious threats to polar bear survival, listing the bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. But just as it made one step forward to protect the bear, the administration took two steps back -- refusing to address the effects of global warming on the rapidly melting sea ice and allowing environmentally damaging oil and gas development to continue in the Arctic.


To counter this massive loophole, representatives Jay Inslee and Maurice Hinchey have introduced a bill to halt oil and gas leases in the bears' Arctic habitat until scientists can fully assess the environmental impacts and designate protected critical habitat.

Support the "Polar Bear Seas Protection Act" and ensure that polar bears get the protection they need to survive.

We can't afford to leave polar bears unprotected against the ongoing threats of global warming and continued development in the Arctic. The Arctic sea ice is rapidly diminishing and scientists predict that the habitat crucial to the bears’ survival may be gone by mid-century. We must act now.

The Polar Bear Seas Protection Act will help ensure that the bears get the immediate protection they need. Fill out the form below and let your representative know that you support real protections for polar bears today.

Tell Congress that you support real protection for polar bears. The Polar Bear Seas Protection Act will help ensure that the bears get the immediate protection they need.

Urge Congress to protect polar bears today.

Sincerely,


Kierán Suckling
Executive Director

PS: If you have difficulty with the links above, please copy and paste this directly into your browser:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24969








Photos by Urso Branco

Read More, See More Photos and Read the Comments . . . CLICK HERE

Bush Admin Gives Big Oil "Blank Check to Harass the Polar Bear"


Bush Admin Gives Big Oil "Blank Check to Harass the Polar Bear"

16 Jun 2008 08:27 AM CDT

Polar Bears From the Associated Press:

Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations this week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska if "small numbers" of polar bears or Pacific walruses are incidentally harmed by their activities over the next five years.

Exploring in the Chukchi Sea's 29.7 million acres will require as many as five drill ships, one or two icebreakers, a barge, a tug and two helicopter flights per day, according to the government. Oil companies will also be making hundred of miles of ice roads and trails along the coastline.

The National Wildlife Federation was already suspicious of the Bush administration's commitment to protecting polar bears. Now the Center for Biological Diversity calls this decision "a blank check to harass the polar bear in the Chukchi Sea."


From WWF-Canada
Polar bears listed as threatened in U.S.!

The U.S. government has listed the polar bear as threatened, stating that climate change is destroying vital polar bear habitat, putting the species at risk of extinction. This puts increasing pressure on the Canadian government to recognize and act on the accelerating impacts of climate change on Arctic communities and species, including polar bears.

Listing the polar bear as threatened clearly indicates that climate change impacts are already threatening animals and habitats, and illustrates the urgency of preparing for and adapting to a rapidly changing climate.

This reinforces the urgency of the three actions that WWF-Canada has called on Prime Minister Harper to take: Place a moratorium on new industrial development in areas of high value to polar bears.
Ensure any hunting for polar bears is fully sustainable.
Most importantly, quickly stop, then reverse the rise in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, so we are doing our part in the global fight against climate change.

Development in the Beaufort Sea

In May, we asked our supporters to write to members of parliament in an effort to postpone the sale of oil and gas leases in the Beaufort Sea, as these leases overlap prime polar bear, beluga and bowhead whale habitat. Unfortunately, the federal government has allowed these lease sales to go forward.

WWF-Canada fundamentally believes that this lease sale was premature as an ocean management plan for this area that would protect critical habits essential for polar bears, whales and other Arctic species has yet to be put in place.

In addition, as there is no current proven technique for recovering oil spills in such dangerous iced waters, we must ensure that the inevitable oil spills which will occur can be properly cleaned up.

Currently, planning is underway through the Large Ocean Management Area (LOMA) process, co-led by the Inuvialuit and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. However, this planning is not yet complete in the Beaufort Sea. WWF-Canada is a participant in this process.

WWF-Canada will continue to push for a proper plan to be put in place that sets aside ecologically sensitive areas from development as required under the Oceans Act, and to work to ensure that a proper oil spill response capacity is in place before development proceeds.

Thank you for your recent efforts. As this process unfolds, we will continue to keep you updated.


Read More, See More Photos and Read the Comments . . . CLICK HERE
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