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...bears face another threat. On Feb. 6 - three days before FWS's new deadline - the Minerals Management Service (MMS), also part of the Interior Department, plans to lease 30 million acres for oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea bordering Alaska, where one-fifth of the world's remaining polar bears live. Drilling - with the risk of spills and seismic damage - could further jeopardize the polar bear, and environmentalists consider it suspicious that FWS decided to delay its decision until after the lease sale. "It seems that every time there is a choice between extraction and extinction in this...
Speaking at the hearing, MMS Director Randall Luthi defended the lease sale, arguing that developing fossil fuels in the Arctic needn't hurt the polar bear - although an Interior Department study indicates there's a 33% to 51% chance of an accidental oil spill in the area. At the conclusion of the hearing, Markey introduced legislation that would force the Bush Administration to protect the polar bear before it allows further oil drilling in Alaska, setting up a showdown later this month...
...fate of the polar bear goes beyond a single oil and gas project. If the species is declared threatened, FWS will have responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act to protect the bears from their main danger - in this case, climate change. That means the government could be challenged legally for anything that increases carbon dioxide emissions - like a new coal power plant - on the grounds that further climate change would further endanger the polar bear. "It would be the first time that the Bush Administration would recognize that global warming had a significant and specific impact on a living being...
...Putin comes across as a leader of great character and vision. In years to come, the Putin era will be a case study of how to use oil riches. Surely many oil-producing countries in the Middle East can learn valuable lessons about ways to use petrodollars that don't involve supporting terrorist organizations. Sudarshan Kumar Singh, Nainital, India...
...else. However, your choice was correct. Recognition of Putin as a world leader has been long overdue. The West needs to engage him and work with him, not against him. Russia's importance in the world cannot be ignored. The country still has a big nuclear arsenal and substantial oil reserves. This is not the cold war. It is the 21st century. Majid Rauf, Lahore, Pakistan...