WOW look at the SIZE of that seal! (photo added by Anthony, not NYT)
By SARAH PALIN
Published: January 5, 2008,
Juneau, Alaska
ABOUT the closest most Americans will ever get to a polar bear are those cute, cuddly animated images that smiled at us while dancing around, pitching soft drinks on TV and movie screens this holiday season.
This is unfortunate, because polar bears are magnificent animals, not cartoon characters. They are worthy of our utmost efforts to protect them and their Arctic habitat. But adding polar bears to the nation’s list of endangered species, as some are now proposing, should not be part of those efforts.
To help ensure that polar bears are around for centuries to come, Alaska (about a fifth of the world’s 25,000 polar bears roam in and around the state) has conducted research and worked closely with the federal government to protect them. We have a ban on most hunting — only Alaska Native subsistence families can hunt polar bears — and measures to protect denning areas and prevent harassment of the bears. We are also participating in international efforts aimed at preserving polar bear populations worldwide.
This month, the secretary of the interior is expected to rule on whether polar bears should be listed under the Endangered Species Act. I strongly believe that adding them to the list is the wrong move at this time. My decision is based on a comprehensive review by state wildlife officials of scientific information from a broad range of climate, ice and polar bear experts.
The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, has argued that global warming and the reduction of polar ice severely threatens the bears’ habitat and their existence. In fact, there is insufficient evidence that polar bears are in danger of becoming extinct within the foreseeable future — the trigger for protection under the Endangered Species Act. And there is no evidence that polar bears are being mismanaged through existing international agreements and the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The state takes very seriously its job of protecting polar bears and their habitat and is well aware of the problems caused by climate change. But we know our efforts will take more than protecting what we have — we must also learn what we don’t know. That’s why state biologists are studying the health of polar bear populations and their habitat.
As a result of these efforts, polar bears are more numerous now than they were 40 years ago. The polar bear population in the southern Beaufort Sea off Alaska’s North Slope has been relatively stable for 20 years, according to a federal analysis.
We’re not against protecting plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act. Alaska has supported listings of other species, like the Aleutian Canada goose. The law worked as it should — under its protection the population of the geese rebounded so much that they were taken off the list of endangered and threatened species in 2001.
Listing the goose — then taking it off — was based on science. The possible listing of a healthy species like the polar bear would be based on uncertain modeling of possible effects. This is simply not justified.
What is justified is worldwide concern over the proven effects of climate change.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned for the polar bear to be protected, wants the listing to force the government to either stop or severely limit any public or private action that produces, or even allows, the production of greenhouse gases. But the Endangered Species Act is not the correct tool to address climate change — the act itself actually prohibits any consideration of broader issues.
Such limits should be adopted through an open process in which environmental issues are weighed against economic and social needs, and where scientists debate and present information that policy makers need to make the best decisions.
Americans should become involved in the issue of climate change by offering suggestions for constructive action to their state governments. But listing the polar bear as threatened is the wrong way to get to the right answer.
evanjones (20:44:03) :
Oh good, we needed an Eastern timezone moderator. And one in Europe.
Let’s see, for now, the PDT folks read until 1 AM, then you take over as it will be 4 AM EDT and and 0900 UT?. Maybe we don’t need someone in Europe. 🙂
[…] Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s op-ed on polar bears and climate change in the NYT WOW look at the SIZE of that seal! (photo added by Anthony, not NYT) Bearing Up By SARAH PALIN Published: Januar […]
The Big Oil mantra is so old and stale that it’s time to throw it out.
In the last quarterly report on AGW’s favorite target of blame, Exxon/Mobil, they had pre-tax revenue of approx $44 billion. After taxes that number went down to $11.6 billion profit; the rest ($32.4 billion) went to taxes. That’s a 74% quarterly tax rate. Any one of you out there want to pay taxes at a 74% rate? I thought not.
So, what happens if we take an intelligent course and start allowing for drilling wherever possible and start pumping serious amounts of oil out of the ground?
• The cost of a barrel of crude will drop big time.
• The profits of oil companies that drill & explore will also plunge, especially for those spending billions on off-shore drilling platforms.
• Tax revenues will rise on the increase in oil production.
• U.S. revenue from leasing would also increase. Sounds like win/win for most everyone except for –
• Less U.S. dollars will be sent to such stalwart believers in freedom and representative government as Saudi Arabia.
All this happened before, after the last oil scare, when oil prices had jumped after OPEC blocked oil exports to the West & the U.S. Drilling went into high gear and prices plunged. The only other major roadblock to lower prices at the pump then is the blocking actions of environmental groups to the construction of new refineries.
Maybe Governor Palin can help knock some sense into Congressional idiocy.
With all her other less than redeeming qualaties and she hates polar bears, too! “)
Like I needed yet another reason not to vote for her.
Since this thread is almost dead and my poetry seldom read:
If you ever met a polar bear
and he hadn’t had his lunch
the last sound to be heard from you
would be a hearty “crunch”.
I know they’re cute and cuddly
but this unwelcome fact:
if you meet a hungry polar bear
you’ll end up polar scat.
I met a hungry polar bear,
the meeting short and fatal.
He killed me dead;
I don’t deny.
But to digest?
Unable!
And now we’re friends in heaven above;
we wrestle and we tussle.
I suggest, my friend,
you wait till then
to test a polar bear’s muscle.
Jack Wrote: Finally Pamela (Gray) wrote” “Three, she is tangled up in religiosity and matter of law, thinking the two can and should mix, and will campaign to bring that mix about.”
Any source on that claim? Quite fraknly, all three seem to be talking points right from the Obama playbook!”
Apparently Pamela can’t back up her claims.
Jack Koenig, VERY Independent Voter
tazlmo & QuakerDave:
http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=723#comments
D’oh!
We have about 10% of the voters uncommitted in a close contest. Your 15 min. are over.
McCain didn’t pick her – he picked Joe Lieberman! It was his GOP puppet masters who told him NO WAY and made him go with another choice.
Way to go Maverick! – give in to the pressures of the ultra right wingers that you supposedly fight against. Election First …. ermmm.. I mean, Country First!
To old construction worker,
The 700 billions dollars that flows to other governments – Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi – is in exchange for 700 billion dollars worth(maybe) of petroleum. It is not quite like T. Boone implies, that we are indiscriminately scattering money hither and yon. That’s what we do with foreign aid and support for the UN. T. Boone is a capitalist and sees a potentially profitable niche in the energy independence panic.
On the topic of Polar Bears, has anyone considered the damage that would be done to the bear population by exploiting a 2,000 acre plot in 20,000,000 acre ANWR? I have difficulty believing, that protected or not, the Polar Bears would be facing extinction. The workers would probably have to be protected from the Polar Bears as indicated by the three Polar Bears attacking a Navy submarine in the picture posted by Anthony.
T.Baker (10:35:47) :
“McCain didn’t pick her – he picked Joe Lieberman! It was his GOP puppet masters who told him NO WAY and made him go with another choice.”
“Maybe”, but “whomever did”, we should all thank them, from the bottom of our heart’s. They were certainly “right”.
Re: Palin’s involvement in Intelligent Design:
http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/8347904p-8243554c.html
Re: backing up statements. Even Fox News reports her views on family planning ( she opposes abortion, which is part of family planning), her goal to include creationism alongside evolution instruction in public schools, and her possible involvement with firing a government employee for personal reasons. But please don’t take more from those statements about my views. I didn’t say I didn’t like her. But those are her weak points and they will be exploited by the democratic machine.
The weakest issue is that by picking her, she makes the appearance of being picked for one purpose, to win disaffected Hillary voters. That does not make her VP material. And certainly does not make her presidential material. That does not mean she hasn’t got those qualities (but trust me, the other side will bring this point out: that she is a token ticket female). I don’t know her other than what news media and her own bio says (and any conservative should know her views on abortion, gay and lesbian rights, creationism, etc). But since she hasn’t gone through the rigors of campaigning at the National level, lets see what she’s got. Can you vote for someone who has served at the state level for only 18 months and has only two months to show presidential skills? Too bad she didn’t run for president. That can test the mettle of anyone.
I would have to say, that she has “far greater qualifications and experience” to be VP than BO does to be President. IMHO!!!
I would rather have someone with zero experience than a socialist.
“Can you vote for someone who has served at the state level for only 18 months and has only two months to show presidential skills?” Pam
Yes, we have barely survived GWB so far. I would trust what so far seems to be a tough woman with a good heart.
I’ve noticed several comments about Sara Palin’s belief in Intelligent Design (ID).
As a business person and non-scientist I suspect that there may be some serious deficiencies in my understanding of the issue so it is with trepidation that I pose the following:
Selection is a term that implies discrimination. When dice are rolled they don’t choose or “select” the number to be displayed when they come to rest. If nature is engaged in a volitional exercise wouldn’t it be guilty of Intelligent Design?
If it is possible, I hope someone will respond with a non-technical answer.
(Personal attacks will not be appreciated.)
[intelligent design discussions, whether proponents consider them creationism or not, are not allowed. this is the last word. Further attempts to discuss will be censored~charles the moderator]
The accomplishments of McCain create a no contest comparison for Obama the Junior Senator.
When you look at Biden, a Washington insider, and compare him to Palin it is also a no contest. She’s authentic, beautiful, articulate, and principled; all of which the average American can relate. She’s exactly what we were waiting for; not Hillary.
It impressed the heck out of me that Palin bit the hand that appointed her with her ethics whistleblowing; against established Republican’s in Alaska. Way to take on the good ol boys Governor.
There is a reason she has such a high approval rating.
The left is frightened of her and what she represents.
Charles the Moderator:
You may want to resist the impulse to censor all discussion on ID, in so far as it definitely relates to the candidate’s positions and qualifications for taking office. That office, of VP, will most certainly affect all concerned in education, the US at large, and those concerned with science on this site. I don’t suggest the issue of ID be debated here, but merely whether one who promulgates such policies for public education is good for this country. There is an open debate going on about Palin, and her suitability for office. I’m trying to keep an open mind about her in spite of a belief that I find (on a policy level) to be personally repugnant. I think this site might allow some light to be shed as it comes out.
“We are also participating in international efforts aimed at preserving polar bear populations worldwide.”
Before heading off to my favourite colony I sent a letter to all my neighbours imploring them not to harm any polar bears they may see in England.
“Before heading off to my favourite colony” FB
We already have a king unfortunately, George the [self-snip].
chance encounters of a fatal kind
A polar bear and a chubby man
chanced to meet one day.
The path they trod was narrow
but neither would give way.
To end this story quickly
and without much more ado,
we bid farewell to a polar bear
and the late Mr. Magoo.
WARNING: Entirely OT.
George the [self-snip]/cite>
Well, from a historian’s view, he’d be George W III.
There was his father, George (H) W II [1989-1992]
And then there was George W (Ashington) [1793-1800]
I will be going away for a week, as of tomorrow. I’ll try to check in, but I can’t promise. However, I am confident y’all will be here when I get back.
evan,
Have fun and take care. You are my favorite Yankee besides Pam (and that is because I’m firmly Hetro, despite being a sensitive sort)
Palin Fought Against Listing Growing Polar Bear Population as Threatened
“The State recognizes that a recent warming trend in portions of the Arctic is occurring, but the causes and effects are more diverse, complex and scientifically debated than is recognized in the USGS reports,” her office said in a statement. “As a result, the link between projected warming and the polar bear population in 50 years is highly speculative and questionable. Polar bears survived prior warming periods greater than the current one. The State notes that numerous respected scientists around the world question the forecasting methodologies used to project impacts to polar bears.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=34907
You have my support as John McCain’s VP choice and as you campaign please stick to the issues and do not do any mud slinging. If the other party wants to act like that let them it will be their loss. The American people want to know what you can do to clean up our government and make it work for the American people. Thank you.