Markey: Bush Administration Foot-Dragging Leaves Polar Bear Out in the Cold
Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081
Bush Administration Foot-Dragging Leaves Polar Bear Out in the Cold
Interior Department Announces It Will Not Meet Deadline; Select Committee Hearing to Explore Interior’s Decision-making Process on Bear, Oil Drilling
WASHINGTON (January 7, 2008) -- Today, the Bush administration announced it will not meet its statutorily required deadline to make a decision on the future of the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Interior Department was required to make a decision on whether the polar bear should be listed as “threatened” under the ESA by January 9, 2008 due to the effects of global warming on the bear’s habitat. Meanwhile, the Interior Department recently announced that it will proceed with a lease sale early next month to open up polar bear habitats off of Alaska to new oil drilling.“The Bush administration is once again putting the oil cart before the polar bear. On the one hand, the Interior department is dragging its feet on protecting the polar bear, while opening up new oil and gas drilling in sensitive polar bear habitats on the other,” said Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “The administration’s own scientists are warning us that two-thirds of all polar bears may be gone by 2050 because of a warming Earth, yet rather than speed up protections for this iconic animal, the Bush administration is speeding up its giveaway of polar bear habitat to Big Oil.”
The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing later this month to examine the future of the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Interior Department’s plan to open up polar bear habitats in Alaska to new oil drilling.
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PLEASE NOTE: The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was created to explore American clean energy solutions that end our reliance on foreign oil and reduce carbon pollution.
The Select Committee was active during the 110th and 111th Congresses. This is an archived version of the website, to ensure that the public has ongoing access to the Select Committee record. This website, including external links, will not be updated after Jan. 3rd, 2010.
The Select Committee was active during the 110th and 111th Congresses. This is an archived version of the website, to ensure that the public has ongoing access to the Select Committee record. This website, including external links, will not be updated after Jan. 3rd, 2010.
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