Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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Save the polar bears time is running out

Save the polar bears time is running out

Help Protect Polar Bears

Polar bear and cubs
Photo by Brendan Cummings

Polar bears are in trouble. The melting of the Arctic is killing them. Some are already starving and drowning. If global warming is allowed to continue, the Arctic will be entirely ice-free during the summer, dooming polar bears to extinction.

The Bush administration has stalled a decision on whether protect the polar bear while it rushes forward with Arctic oil and gas leases. But now a federal judge has ordered the administration to make a final decision by May 15th.

A positive decision will immediately protect polar bears, setting the stage for protecting their habitat and developing a long-term recovery program. A negative decision will consign them to extinction.

Which will it be? Please sign the petition below urging the Secretary of Interior to list the polar bear as an endangered species and to protect its habitat.

With your help, we'll deliver 50,000 signatures to the Secretary by May 15th.

This may be the last chance we have to influence one of the most important environmental decisions of our generation. Please sign today.

And then, please forward this petition link to at least ten of your friends. To generate at least 50,000 signatures, we'll need 25,000 people per week signing the petition. We'll only get there with your help.



Click here to sign the petition

Dear Secretary Kempthorne,

Polar bears need protection. There is still time to save them, but the window of opportunity is slamming shut. The science indicating that polar bears are imperiled is clear -- please list them as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act immediately. Also designate the Arctic as protected critical habitat and establish a scientifically rigorous recovery plan.

It is past time for our nation to protect polar bear habitat and to take bold and courageous action to slash greenhouse gas pollution. Please begin by issuing a moratorium on oil and gas development in the Arctic, including the sales planned for the Chukchi Sea. It is unacceptable to sell off polar bear habitat for oil and gas development while a final Endangered Species Act listing is illegally delayed.

Signed,

On May 15th, the federal government will make one of the most important decisions in conservation history.

If it declares the polar bear to be an "endangered" species, it will set off an unprecedented worldwide discussion on global warming...and establish legal requirements to do something about it.

If the government refuses, desperately needed global action will again be
delayed by the Bush administration's stubbornness. Short-term corporate profits will continue to control political agendas and threaten life on earth. All of life on earth.

It will all happen -- or not -- on May 15th.

Make it happen. Sign our petition today and pass it on.

We need to generate 50,000 petition signatures in favor of polar bear protection by May 15th.

Together we can generate an unstoppable wave of public support for global warming action. Please sign our petition and then forward this email to 10 friends.

When I wrote the scientific request to list the polar bear as an endangered species in 2005, I had no idea how important it would become to the battle against global warming. The decline of the polar bear has focused international attention on the real-world effects of catastrophic climate change.

I also didn't know we'd have to file suit -- twice -- to get Bush administration to even process the request. Just last week a federal judge ordered the administration to make a final decision in two weeks.

Last month, I testified before Congress about the plight of polar bears and what can be done right now to save them. Leaders in Congress are doing their part to pressure the Bush administration to listen to the scientists and do the right thing. You and your friends can add to that pressure by signing the petition.

Please forward this email to 10 friends today. The fate of the polar bear and all other species -- including ourselves -- threatened by global warming hangs in the balance. Your friends will thank you for the opportunity to weigh in.

Sincerely,

Kassie Siegel
Climate, Air and Energy Program Director
Center for Biological Diversity

PS: If you have trouble with the above hyperlinks, please copy and paste this directly into your browser:
http://proserie5.com/c/1y4IfaFXaMvKg9-mKhsUMQ.html?2

PPS: Here's an excerpt from the Washington Post on the polar bear victory:

Washington Post, April 29, 2008
Federal Judge Orders Administration to Classify Polar Bear
By Juliet Eilperin

A federal judge in California has ordered the Bush administration to decide by May 15 whether the polar bear deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision, issued late Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, forces the Interior Department to determine whether climate change is pushing polar bears toward extinction. The agency proposed listing polar bears in December 2006 because warmer temperatures are shrinking the sea ice they depend on for survival, but officials have delayed a final decision on the matter for months...

"Today's decision is a huge victory for the polar bear," said Kassie Siegel, climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, who was lead author of the 2005 petition that prompted Interior to consider listing the species.

"By May 15th the polar bear should receive the protections it deserves under the Endangered Species Act, which is the first step toward saving the polar bear and the entire Arctic ecosystem from global warming."...

The final ruling on the polar bear's status could have far-reaching implications for the nation's climate policy. Several Republicans, including President Bush and Sen. James M. Inhofe (Okla.), the ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, have argued that environmental groups are trying to use the case of the polar bear listing to force a federal limit on greenhouse gas emission.

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