Why we don’t need to 'save' the polar bear

Environmental groups are pushing to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

It might make sense -- if the polar bear were endangered. But the worldwide population of these bears has more than doubled since 1965, to an estimated 20,000-25,000 today. Far from being threatened, by all accounts the bears are thriving.

So what's behind the push to ''save'' the bears? A desire to ban energy exploration in much of Alaska, and a threatened species tag is just the ticket to make it happen.

If the Polar Bear, in spite of rapidly increasing numbers, is somehow listed as an endangered species by environmentalists, we will become even more dependant on the Middle East for oil.

A Polar Bear endangered listing would end any chances of opening up a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil -- enough to offset nearly 15 years worth of current imports from Saudi Arabia.

The photo below is that now-famous photograph of polar bears stranded on an Arctic ice-flow which appears to be melting faster than ice-cream on a muggy day.

(click on picture to enlarge)

For a while, this picture became a powerful symbol of the so-called perils of global warming - until it was revealed to have been taken three years ago and during the height of summer!

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Comments

[Larry Jost]

Polar bears on ice flows are nothing new. I have a copy of a National Geogaphic magazine from August of 1922. On page 210 is a photo of polar bears on an ice flow...and in this case it looks like the adult was killed and the cubs captured and put in a zoo.