Arctic Ice Cap Collapse: Where Polar Bears See Crisis, Big Oil Sees Opportuniy

Global warming is pushing Arctic Sea ice cover towards new record lows:

The area of ocean covered by ice shrank to 4.93 million square kilometers (1.9 million square miles) on average for the five days through Aug. 15, according to the latest data from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. With as many as five weeks of the annual melt season left, it’s already the fourth-lowest annual minimum ever measured.

“Unless the melting really, really slows down, there’s a very real chance of a record,” Walt Meier, a research scientist at the NSIDC, said in a telephone interview. “In the last week or so it’s dropped precipitously. There’s definitely a chance it’ll dip below 4 million square kilometers.”

The shrinkage is the most visible sign of global warming according to Meier, and raises the prospect that the Arctic Ocean may become largely ice free in the summer. That opens up new shipping routes and is sparking a race for resources that’s led to Cairn Energy Plc (CNE) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) exploring waters off Greenland for oil and gas.

Needless to say, the combination of melting ice and new drilling would be double trouble for America's polar bears.

So to recap, global warming driven by carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels is melting the Arctic ice cap, and how do we react? By letting the oil companies that have made huge profits from their ability to release unlimited carbon pollution (and used those profits to fight climate science) move into the melted areas to drill for more fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, Congress is reacting to drought conditions approaching Dust Bowl levels by moving to gut post-Dust Bowl soil conservation programs. If Jared Diamond wants to write a sequel to Collapse we're giving him plenty of material.

As CREDO Action says, "The Arctic has never been drilled for oil, not even under President George W. Bush." Will President Barack Obama be the one to sign the order? Tell President Obama to say no to Arctic drilling.

Louis CK: Shouldn't All Christians be Environmentalists?

Continuing the rebuttal to Rick Santorum's contention that God's cool with us destroying the planet, from Louis CK's Live at the Beacon Theater:

His rejection of environmental stewardship only shows the depth of Santorum's cafeteria Catholicism - Pope Benedict XVI himself is a climate activist. There's also the evangelical Creation Care movement, the Jewish Climate Initiative and the Muslim-hosted international conference on climate change.


Graphic via WarmingGlow.UpRoxx.com - go see their Louis CK slideshow.

Merchants of Doubt Now Attacking Polar Bears

I usually try to keep my day job with the National Wildlife Federation & my personal blog separate, but I have a new post at the NWF blog I wanted to share.

The same polluter front groups that defended cigarette companies & attacked climate scientists are now targeting polar bears. Journalists, rather than trying to determine the truth, are instead reporting to the controversy & leaving it there.

WTOP Earns Golden Ostrich Nomination

Last night as I was listening to WTOP radio, Shawn Anderson read a story about how polar bears are struggling with less ice and how the Pacific walruses is now considered threatened - without using the words "climate" or "global warming."

(Puts on Jon Gruden voice) Now, Shawn Anderson, you talk about THIS GUY, you talk about a guy who knows how to keep his head down. I mean, this guy knows if you point out scientific fact, people who find that politically inconvenient are just gonna get mad at ya! So why do it? YOU DON'T! I'm tellin' ya, you could put this guy in the middle of any controversy in any era - cigarettes causing cancer, CFCs destroying the ozone layer - and this guy's gonna give it his all to avoid giving you the whole story.

See the rest of the Golden Ostrich nominees, or if you see or hear a story that avoids or obfuscates climate science, email me your nomination.

Sarah Palin, Global Warming Denier Cover Girl

Don't believe any administration could be worse for wildlife and our climate than Bush-Cheney?

Check out the latest edition of "Environment & Climate News" from the Heartland Institute, a leading oil industry front group for global warming denial. There's a smiling Sarah Palin on the cover, superimposed over a pair of threatened polar bears.

With the backing of Big Oil and its allies, Palin has led Alaska's fight against protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. Remarkably, Palin thinks the Bush administration has been too liberal in recognizing the threat of global warming and acting to protect the bears.

As the Center for Biological Diversity's Kassie Siegel has said, "The amazing thing about this litigation is that the governor of Alaska is so anti-environmental that she is suing the Bush administration over a claimed overabundance of protections for the polar bear. It's just amazing."

The next time someone tries to tell you McCain and Obama are nearly the same on environmental issues, here's all the evidence you need to prove them wrong: Global warming deniers can't wait to have Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency. The people at the Heartland Institute who've dedicated their lives to fighting science know their gal when they see her.

Big Oil Gets Behind McCain's VP on Polar Bear Lawsuit

The Washington Post reports a Big Oil front group is joining John McCain's running mate in trying to strip polar bears of Endangered Species Act protection:

The American Petroleum Institute and four other business groups filed suit Thursday against Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall, joining Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's administration in trying to reverse the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species.

The other groups involved in the latest lawsuit are the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Mining Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute. Just despicable.

As a leading advocate of polar bear protection points out, Gov. Palin's stance puts her to the far right of even President Bush:

Kassie Siegel, climate program director for the Center for Biological Diversity, which originally petitioned to list the polar bear as an endangered species in 2005, decried the assertion in the Alaska suit that science does not prove polar bear populations are declining. The center is also suing the federal government, seeking to change the polar bear's official status from "threatened" to "endangered."

"The amazing thing about this litigation is that the governor of Alaska is so anti-environmental that she is suing the Bush administration over a claimed overabundance of protections for the polar bear," Siegel said. "It's just amazing."

If you liked the Bush administration's war on science, you'll love Sarah Palin!

Palin on Polar Bears: "Grossly Misinformed or Intentionally Misleading"

John McCain has been distancing himself from his previous championing of climate action as he tries to appeal to conservatives. Well, he's certainly keeping that theme with his vice presidential pick.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been a champion of a different fight -- the one to try to keep the polar bear from being protected by the Endangered Species Act:

"She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Alaska deserves better."

Siegel said it was unconscionable for Palin to ignore overwhelming evidence of global warming's threat to sea ice, the polar bear's habitat.

"Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming," she said. "The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."

With this pick, McCain has completely turned his back on his past leadership on global warming.

UPDATE 1:47pm - Much more on Palin's sorry environmental record over at Gristmill.

UPDATE 2:13pm - Palin today tells a conservative website she doesn't believe scientists who say global warming is man-made.

Bush: Polar Bears Disappearing? Sell Their Homes to Big Oil!

Few species are as threatened by climate change as the polar bear:

Polar bears are considered marine mammals because they depend on sea ice for hunting seals, but they den on land. As sea ice has retreated, polar bears must swim farther and expend more energy to reach it.

A U.S. Geological Survey study issued this summer found that in the next 50 years, shrinking sea ice will leave only a small population of polar bears in the islands of the Canadian Arctic. Two-thirds of the world's polar bears, including those along the coasts of Alaska and Russia, are projected to disappear.

So when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was faced with a January 9th deadline to on whether to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, it took swift action, right?

Of course not. This is the Bush administration. That's not how they roll.

The Fish and Wildlife Service postponed the decision for a month -- in an amazing coincidence, just enough time for the Minerals Management Service to sneak in yesterday's oil and gas lease sale in prime polar bear habitat:

The Interior Department yesterday announced $2.6 billion in winning bids from companies seeking to drill for oil and gas in Alaska's Chukchi Sea despite protests from environmental groups and members of Congress that oil and gas exploration would endanger polar bears.

Companies made 667 bids for 448 tracts in the 29 million-acre area north of Point Barrow. The winning bids included a record-breaking $105.3 million offer by Shell Oil for one three-by-three-mile leasehold, almost twice as much as the previous high bid for a single offshore U.S. tract.

Now that those leases are all squared away, the Fish and Wildlife Service will likely make a decision on the polar bear in the next few days.

You can tell the Bush administration you're outraged about the decision, but honestly, what good will it do? The Bush administration long ago decided to leave a legacy of using its public office to line the pockets of friends and thwart any efforts to hold it accountable, while passing problems like Iraq, the national debt, and climate change on to the next administration.

Global Warming Report: Settling the Debate

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its updated report on global warming today. It contradicts two main arguments deniers make about global warming -- that climate change is uncertain, and that scientists are divided:

With at least 90 percent certainty, the IPCC's "Summary For Policymakers" concludes human-generated greenhouse gases account for most of the global rise in temperatures over the past half century. Hundreds of scientists from 113 countries prepared the report, which represents the most comprehensive overview of scientific climate research since 2001.

Global warming deniers often claim that the planet's warming is a new, unproven theory that contradicts a Newsweek article from the 1970s that the planet might be cooling. According to Britain's The Guardian newspaper, the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, has been offering scientists bribes of $10,000 (plus expenses) to dispute the report. But as detailed in the Washington Post this week, in reality, the report is just the latest stop on the long road to scientific consensus.

Some climatologists say even today's grim report paints too rosy a picture. As you can see by this photo, it's already too late for many polar bears as their habitat rapidly shrinks.

As Lowell points out at Raising Kaine, Virginia is doing little or nothing about global warming. And as Eric blogs, the debate is over.

Here in Arlington, you can start taking steps to reduce their environmental impact through Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment's Green Living Challenge!

So after all these reports, what's the most amazing number? A new survey shows 13 percent of Americans have never heard of global warming.

China Going from Red to Green?

Catching up on some interesting stories that came out while I was in Massachusetts for Christmas ...

* Now even the Bush administration is admitting climate change is already here, finally recognizing the threat to polar bears.

* China has issued its first report on the impact of global warming in the world's most populous country. The results are ominous but not unexpected -- higher temperatures along with more rain AND more droughts (the extra rain will evaporate faster in the heat). Meanwhile, some American companies are recognizing China as a huge, untapped market for green products and services.

* Cool story from Forbes about a guy who figured out how to make big bucks by convincing people to recycle.

* Over at Bacon's Rebellion, Jim points out one reason why Arlington has fewer traffic problems than Fairfax -- it has 38 times as many people working to convince commuters to ditch their cars.

* And as the nation remembers Gerald Ford, I couldn't help remembering this classic 1996 Saturday Night Live skit, with Dana Carvey portraying Tom Brokaw recording some potential breaking news bulletins before leaving on vacation.

UPDATE: Chinese officials suspected of faking smog data to make clean air targets.