Both deserve to be on endangered species list

by David Grand
March 12, 2008

No question but that polar bears should be so designated, faced as they with extinction by 2050 because of climate models that predict a complete summer meltdown of the polar ice cap by 2030 or sooner.

And I'd also like to see Senator Ted "a bridge to nowhere" Stevens put on the list, along with those politicians who reject the models out-of-hand and share his view about opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil dwelling. The difference between 'em and the bears being they're not worth saving.

Unfortunately, it's only the polar bears in Alaska, not politicians, who are dwindling in number, due to starvation, cannibalism and drowning, which most scientists believe is directly related to the loss of sea ice.  And when I see pictures of Berlin's cute and cuddly abandoned polar bear cub, named Knut, who was left to die in the zoo's bear pit  by his mother-a grumpy 20-year-old former circus bear-you'd think Alaska's politicians would be pounding on doors in Washington to protect one of God's beautiful creations, and as much of a proud symbol of the state as, say, alligators are of Florida.

One would also think that the seventh-term senator would be more occupied defending himself against an on-going federal investigation into the remodeling of his residence by Veco CEO Bill Allen (who pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers) than doing his damndest to open up the ANWR to oil dwelling.

As Andrew Wetzler of the National Resources Defense Council said, "the state's position is, scientific speaking, mostly gibberish and motivated solely by economic and political concerns."

In Congress, the opponents of oil exploration in the ANWR are going on the offense after playing defense for a quarter of a century, by pushing the new Democratic Congress to making the drilling ban permanent in that pristine area.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass, is chief sponsor of such legislation, which failed in the last three sessions, due its supporters failure to muster the 60 votes in the Senate needed to overcome a likely Republican filibuster.

But therein lies the rub, for even if it's passed by both Houses, Bush said he'd veto it the moment it landed on his desk. And to make matters worse, an article in the Anchorage Daily News reported that the Bush administration is just weeks away from a decision that most likely will designate polar bears as a threatened species, but saying, on the other hand, that it won't budge on issuing oil and gas leases in their shrinking Alaska habitat.

That's what the Indians would call "speaking with forked tongue," and would be like giving a heart attack victim an aspirin without  bothering to call 911 for professional help.

Now, I know that preserving the lives of those majestic polar bears for future generations to marvel at is too trivial of an issue for presidential candidates to address in their speeches and debates.

But they just might, were some environmentalist group to hold up placards, whenever they appear in public, with Knut's picture on it and written in bold letters above it: Save us from only being seen in zoos.