Friday, May 16, 2008
Editorial: Not just humans will benefit from election
Polar bears face a double threat: a habitat that is quickly melting and a U.S. government that refuses to address climate change.
The Bush administration admitted Wednesday that global warming is causing the polar bear's habitat to melt at a rate that could jeopardize the species survival in a few decades. Just don't expect the White House to actually ease the polar bear's plight.
The announcement by Interior Department Secretary Dirk Kempthorne that placed the polar bear on the threatened species list came under duress and only because a court ordered the agency to act. Kempthorne made it clear that his agency won't wade into climate-change policy in order to protect the polar bear, and it won't stop any economic activities, such as drilling for oil, that may harm the wildlife. Kempthore said:
"I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting. Any real solution requires action by all major economies for it to be effective. That is why I am taking administrative and regulatory action to make certain the ESA isn't abused to make global warming policies."
Polar bears hunt from sea ice but are unable to do so from land, losing more than 2 pounds a day during summer fasts. With sea ice melting at a pace far faster than the models predict, a fact that Kempthorne acknowledges, polar bears are in danger of losing their hunting grounds.
Despite recent acknowledgement by President Bush that scientists are right and man is hastening climate change, the administration maintains a do-nothing policy, especially when it comes to regulating business.
The administration finally gets the science -- seven of the 10 peer-reviewed climate models show a 97 percent loss in September sea ice by the end of the 21st century -- and admits, "based on actual observations of trends in sea ice over the past three decades, these models may actually understate the extent and change rate of projected sea ice loss."
Yet, officials still don't get what's at risk.
Kempthorne is right in one sense. Interior's Fish and Wildlife isn't the place to write the measures to slow global warming. And it certainly couldn't and shouldn't weigh whether a new coal-fired electric plant in Southwest Virginia will harm polar bears.
The task of developing climate-change policy belongs squarely with the White House. Neither citizens nor polar bears should expect improvement within the next 249 days.
Developing and enacting effective climate-change initiatives is just one of the many messes that will be dumped into the lap of Bush's successor. Thankfully, the remaining presidential candidates all say they understand how devastating continued inaction will be.
