UPDATE: Select Committee to Examine Global Warming's Threat to Polar Bears; Bush Administration Response
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR JANUARY 17th, 2008
Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081
UPDATE: Select Committee to Examine Global Warming's Threat to Polar Bears; Bush Administration Response
WASHINGTON -- Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will question members of the Bush Administration regarding the delay of a decision to list polar bears under the Endangered Species Act until after a controversial lease sale for oil drilling off of Alaska. The hearing will also feature experts on wildlife protection and oil drilling.Earlier this week, the Interior Department announced it would miss the statutory deadline to reach a decision on listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), saying it would take up to a month more to reach the decision. That would put the listing decision one day after the sale of oil drilling rights in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, scheduled for February 6th. The Chukchi Sea is a sensitive polar bear habitat.
In the most thorough study to date, the Interior Department determined that under current trends, disappearing sea ice would result in a two-thirds drop in the world population of polar bears resulting in the disappearance of polar bears from Alaska by 2050.
WHAT: “On Thin Ice: The Future of the Polar Bear,” Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming hearing
WHERE: 2175 Rayburn House Office Building and on the web at globalwarming.house.gov
WHEN: 9:30 AM, Thursday, January 17, 2008
WHO:
PANEL I
Mr. Dale Hall
Director
Fish and Wildlife Service
Mr. Randall Luthi
Director
Minerals Management Service
Dr. Steven Amstrup
Polar Bear Team Leader
U.S. Geological Survey
PANEL II
Ms. Jamie Rappaport Clark
Executive Vice President
Defenders of Wildlife
Ms. Deborah Williams
President
Alaska Conservation Solutions
Ms. Kassie Siegel
Director
Climate, Air and Energy Program
Center for Biological Diversity
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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 This is an archived version of the website, to ensure that the public has ongoing access to the Select Committee record.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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