Plans to drill for Alaskan oil threaten polar bear numbers

You see, in February Governor Palin has oil leases going up for bid. At the very same time, the decision regarding the Endangerd/Threatened status of Polar Bears hangs in the balance.

Here we go again, with politicians too invested in carbon fuels to see their way clear to speak the truth.


Published: 04 January 2008
Environment groups are protesting against plans by the US government to open up a vast area of Arctic sea off Alaska for oil exploration, saying it would pose an unacceptable new threat to polar bears and walruses.
The Minerals and Management Service, MMS, said it would be seeking bids for petroleum licences in the Chukchi Sea on 6 February. The 46,000-square-mile area, located between Alaska and the coast of the Russian Far East, holds 15 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a huge volume of natural gas.
It is also home to one of the two main populations of polar bears in US territory, as well as large herds of walrus. The announcement comes days before Washington is to decide whether polar bears should be declared an endangered species because of the effects of global warming.
"The chances for the continued survival of this icon of the Arctic will be greatly diminished if its last remaining critical habitat is turned into a vast oil and gas field," said Margaret Williams, of the wildlife group WWF.
The expansion of exploration rights in Alaska is strongly supported by Sarah Palin, the state's governor, but will always be controversial with environmentalists amid growing evidence that global warming and shrinking sea ice are already threatening populations of Arctic mammals....