US Department of Interior Lists Polar Bear As Threatened

"There has been concern within the business community that such an action could have far-reaching impact and could be used to regulate carbon dioxide."

And that, dear friends, is part of the reason we are in the mess we are in. Allowing big business to dictate the policies of the government. They certainly shouldn't have any input as to whether a species is endangered or not.

Screw the corporations, save the Polar Bear (and ourselves while we are at it.)

This is only the first step, and it's filled with loopholes. Typical Bush fashion, so the fight continues. It's a good thing we defenders of polar bears are a determined bunch because we won't stop.

I find it funny that the Google add listed above has a link for "bear rugs". I wish it were possible to control these adds a bit more, as I don't think it would be the intention of tree hugger to advertise this. It makes me sad. This whole polar bear thing makes me sad. This has been put off for too long. I agree with the first comment. Big business should not be allowed as much power as they have. Everything is going to be going down the crap hole if we keep living like we are. It is a shame:(

Why Do We Care If Polar Bears Become Extinct?

This is not any sort of revelation: Polar bears declared a threatened species , but it does raise the question: Why do we care? By some estimates, 90% of all species that once existed are now extinct and new species are always taking their place. For the species that’s going to become extinct, for whatever reason, extinction is the end of it. However, for the species that remain, is the extinction of another species good or bad? When Europeans first colonized North America, there was an estimated five (5) billion Passenger Pigeons alive and well in North America. In 1914, they were extinct. Passenger Pigeons didn’t live in little groups, but huge flocks that required extraordinary quantities of hardwood forests for them to feed, breed and survive. Deforestation to build homes, create farmland and over hunting for cheap food decimated their population. The westward drive to grow the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s was incompatible with the needs of the Passenger Pigeon and they literally could not survive in the new North America being carved out by the U.S. economy. The interesting thing about the Passenger Pigeon was the impact its extinction had on another species—man. That impact was essentially none. Man continued to find ways to feed himself through agriculture and other technologies and the United States and its citizens continued to prosper from the early 20th century till today. Whether or not Polar Bears become extinct because of Global Climate Change or other reasons, we need to address the larger question of: Do we care and why? One of the ways a nation, its citizens and the global community can answer that question is addressed by John A. Warden III in Thinking Strategically About Global Climate Change. He asks some interesting biodiversity questions in his post to include How Many Species Is the Right Number and Which Ones?

It’s sad and vexing to see the Canadian Media prodding our Government to wave our Inuit Hunters at the American Government for recognizing Polar Bears as an endangered species. The Great White Hunter and the crunching grind of progress have brought down to extinction Elephants, Lions and Tigers, Water Buffalo, and now Polar and Grizzly Bears. One would think that every Inuit should be shoulder to shoulder, preserving each polar bear from the Safari Bwanas who fly in to drop their ten grand for a trophy murdered for their private Den. What the High Arctic Inuit get for their Ten Grand is less and less Polar Bears and the digress of their culture. They should be looking over their shoulders to see the bulldozers, pipeline welders, and social workers dispatched by the pens of Ottawa to dislodge them AND their polar bears. The Indian Act of Canada was not a Play. It was a weapon.
What is needed now is an Inuit Act of Canada... drawn up by them to wave in the face of the hungry press of progress.