"scooter" <scooter.leto@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:839836cc-2024-41ca-b50b-3a348c5cd170@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
May 15, 8:40 pm, "Lord Gow333, Conservative Fullback!"
<lord...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Mike M" <MichaelML...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:a70a7b10-d96c-453b-bd22-afbd3a868bad@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>
>
> > US lists polar bear as threatened species
> > AP
> > Posted: 2008-05-15 04:00:14
> > WA****NGTON (AP) - Put at risk by global warming, the polar bear is
> > getting a life line as the government officially has declared it a
> > threatened species in need of increased protection. But another round
> > of legal battles surrounding the majestic animal may be just
> > beginning.
>
> > The Interior Department put the bear under the protective umbrella of
> > the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday, concluding what biologists
> > have been saying for years: the bear is on the way to extinction
> > because of the rapid disappearance of the Arctic sea ice upon which it
> > depends.
>
> > Scientists predict sea ice melting will continue and even accelerate
> > as a result of global warming.
>
> > "This in my judgment makes the polar bear a threatened species, one
> > likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future,"
> > said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, punctuating his point with an
> > array of slides, charts and maps showing the changing ice flows of the
> > Arctic.
>
> > But Kempthorne also said that he did not view the increased protection
> > of the bear afforded by the Endangered Species Act as a back door to
> > regulate greenhouse gases coming from power plants, automobiles and
> > industrial sources.
>
> > "That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the ESA law," declared
> > Kempthorne as he outlined a series of administrative and other actions
> > he would take to protect anything like that from happening.
>
> > The restrictions, including one that would provide the bear no more
> > protection from oil drilling in Arctic waters than it now has under
> > another federal law, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, prompted
> > environmentalists and some members of Congress to questions whether
> > the bear will get any more protection at all.
>
> > "They're trying to make this a threatened listing in name only with no
> > change in today's impacts and that's not going to fly," said Jamie
> > Rappa****t Clark of Defenders of Wildlife and a former director of the
> > U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Clinton administration.
>
> > Three environmental groups whose lawsuit forced the Interior
> > Department to make a decision on the bear's status, indicated they are
> > preparing to go to court again to challenge some of the provisions
> > Kempthorne outlined.
>
> > These measures amount to the bear not getting all the protections it
> > in entitled to under the Endangered Species Act and won't hold up in
> > court, said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity.
>
> > Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council said the
> > Interior Department's decision allows loopholes in the law "to allow
> > the greatest threat to the polar bear - global warming pollution - to
> > continue unabated."
>
> > Kempthorne acknowledged that the polar bear - 25,000 of them that roam
> > the Arctic region from Russia and Alaska to Greenland - "poses a
> > unique conservation challenge." It is the first time in the history of
> > the Endangered Species Act that the law has been used to protect an
> > animal whose nemesis is global warming.
>
> > "I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate
> > change or prevent any sea ice from melting," said Kempthorne. "...The
> > ESA is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy."
>
> > Kempthorne sought to assure the business community that the bear's
> > protection would not keep someone from building a coal-burning power
> > plant or drill for oil in Arctic waters.
>
> > The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded the decision. "It will protect
> > polar bears while also protecting American jobs and businesses," said
> > Bill Kovacs, the Chamber's vice president for environmental affairs.
>
> > But some business groups weren't as impressed.
>
> > The ruling "will unleash a torrent of lawsuits" by environmentalists
> > and "give them a powerful new legal sledgehammer" against businesses
> > and agricultural operations especially in the West, warned Jim Sims,
> > president of the Western Business Roundtable.
>
> > Reed Hopper, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which
> > frequently has challenged the Endangered Species Act in property
> > rights disputes, said he plans to challenge the bear listing as well
> > in court.
>
> > The polar bear "already is the most protected (animal) in the world
> > and needs no additional protection," maintained Hopper. He noted the
> > number of polar bears have more than doubled since the late 1960s from
> > 12,000 to about 25,000 across the Arctic region from Alaska to
> > Greenland.
>
> > Interior Department scientists in a series of re****ts last September
> > that were heavily relied on by Kempthorne in his listing decision,
> > concludes that continuing melting of sea ice will lead to a two-thirds
> > decline in polar bears by mid-century, meaning the disappearance of at
> > least 15,000 bears.
>
> > Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the
> > AP news re****t may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
> > distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated
> > Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
> > 05/15/08 03:53 EDT
>
> Anybody want to join me on a hunting trip?
>
> Poalr bears, bureaucrats, whatever...
>
> LG
> --
> If you wonder how it came to be generally acknowledged "fact," accepted
by
> all men of good will, that Joe McCarthy was a monster, that Alger Hiss
was
> innocent, that mankind is causing global warming and that we're losing
the
> war in Iraq, try watching the rewriting of history nightly on MSNBC. -
Ann
> Coulter- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I love all the Anne Coulter quotes, not because they have an iota of
political worth, but because the manner you present them. Every quote
reads like a comedian doing a stand-up routine. Anne's a clown and you
like the circus.
~~~~
It's kind of hard to use an entire, well researched, best selling book as
a
sig line.
LG (would have several to choose from tho)
--
"Keep it simple. If it takes a genius to understand it, it will never
work."
- Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson
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