Wednesday
Apr022008
Senators spar over listing polar bears as endangered
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 4:01PM
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing to investigate the delay on listing of the polar bear on the Endangered Species Act. Also present were ranking member Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Sen. John Barraso (R-WY). Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne was invited, but sent a letter to the committee declining to appear because he is a named defendant in a court case on the subject of the delayed listing.
Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) made a strong opening statement saying that the Bush administration has not followed the law by delaying the listing of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act. "The Bush administration does not have the right or the discretion to not carry out the law," she said. She said that the Bush administration was foot dragging on this listing while at the same time authorizing new oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea where 20 percent of the world's polar bears live.
Boxer and her Republican colleagues had a bit of a back-and-forth before the witnesses were able to testify. Both quoting from the Bible, Boxer and Inhofe sparred over the concept of protecting "God's creation" Inhofe quoted Romans saying that false gods should not be made out of creation to be praised over the creator. Boxer responded, "You're correct, liars should not be praised."
Two out of the three witnesses testified that the administration has delayed and held up litigation about listing the polar bear. Dr. Douglas Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation testified that global warming is indeed negatively affecting polar bears and that his research indicates that two-thirds of the world's polar bears will disappear by 2050 due to ice loss caused by global warming trends.
William Horn, a lobbyist who lobbied Congress in the 80s to open parts of Alaska for drilling testified that listing polar bears as endangered opens up a "Pandora's box" of other unwarranted listings and that putting the polar bear on the list would make the Endangered Species Act into a "regulatory monster" which would negatively affect U.S. energy-sector business development. Horn emphasized that the fact that polar bear endangerment could be foreseen for the future does not merit an endangered listing now, saying that he viewed the species as healthy
Kassie Siegel from the Center for Biological Diversity said that the administration has rushed to allow oil and natural gas development in areas of polar bear habitat, but only delay on the listing of polar bears as an endangered species. Siegel said that the listing was intentionally delayed in order to facilitate the sale of parts of the Chukchi Sea for new oil and gas development, another threat to polar bears and their habitat.
Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) made a strong opening statement saying that the Bush administration has not followed the law by delaying the listing of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act. "The Bush administration does not have the right or the discretion to not carry out the law," she said. She said that the Bush administration was foot dragging on this listing while at the same time authorizing new oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea where 20 percent of the world's polar bears live.
Boxer and her Republican colleagues had a bit of a back-and-forth before the witnesses were able to testify. Both quoting from the Bible, Boxer and Inhofe sparred over the concept of protecting "God's creation" Inhofe quoted Romans saying that false gods should not be made out of creation to be praised over the creator. Boxer responded, "You're correct, liars should not be praised."
Two out of the three witnesses testified that the administration has delayed and held up litigation about listing the polar bear. Dr. Douglas Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation testified that global warming is indeed negatively affecting polar bears and that his research indicates that two-thirds of the world's polar bears will disappear by 2050 due to ice loss caused by global warming trends.
William Horn, a lobbyist who lobbied Congress in the 80s to open parts of Alaska for drilling testified that listing polar bears as endangered opens up a "Pandora's box" of other unwarranted listings and that putting the polar bear on the list would make the Endangered Species Act into a "regulatory monster" which would negatively affect U.S. energy-sector business development. Horn emphasized that the fact that polar bear endangerment could be foreseen for the future does not merit an endangered listing now, saying that he viewed the species as healthy
Kassie Siegel from the Center for Biological Diversity said that the administration has rushed to allow oil and natural gas development in areas of polar bear habitat, but only delay on the listing of polar bears as an endangered species. Siegel said that the listing was intentionally delayed in order to facilitate the sale of parts of the Chukchi Sea for new oil and gas development, another threat to polar bears and their habitat.
Former Interior Secretaries Offer Gulf Coast Advice, Oppose Drilling Moratorium
By Alexa Gitler - Talk Radio News Service
Former Interior Secretaries Gale Norton and Dirk Kempthorne told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that they strongly oppose a proposed temporary morartorium on drilling.
Both officials were appointed under the direction of the Bush administration and although neither has previously dealt with a disaster or an oil spill to the magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon, they each gave recommendations based on their past experiences on how the current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar should move forward and act.
“I hope Congress will follow the process that has served us so well and study what caused the accident and then adopt new or additional procedures, standards, laws and regulations, if needed on that basis,” Norton said.
When asked whether or not the Obama Administration’s policy of a proposed temporary moratorium on drilling was a step in the right direction, they both expressed extreme opposition towards that notion.
“The gulf coast is being devastated, the result if a permanent moratorium is put in place you will further cause a disruption of the economy to the gulf coast states, when really they need to have a recovery,” said Kempthorne.
Kempthorne, as a former governor, also stressed the importance of Congress and the Obama administration to work closely with the governors of the gulf coast states because they are known to be proven leaders and extremely passionate about their states and citizens.