NEWS
Larry Schweiger: To protect polar bears, pass Climate Security Act
06/05/2008
When it comes to protecting the polar bear from extinction, we need a short-term survival strategy and a long-term solution that addresses the root of the problem: global warming.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration’s decision on May 14 to declare the polar bear "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act does little to help save the polar bear in the near term and reinforces a do-nothing strategy to address the ultimate cause of the polar bear’s predicament.
Scientists tell us that because of global warming, Arctic seas could be ice-free in the summer within just five years. This rapid decline of sea ice is depriving the polar bear of essential habitat and could wipe out the polar bear from the U.S. within decades.
Let’s face facts: The polar bear is faced with extinction due to global warming. Because we cannot immediately reverse this warming trend, we must protect its critical habitat so it can survive while we begin capping our greenhouse gas pollution. The Endangered Species Act protects those crucial den-building and hunting areas needed by the bear to survive. But we also need a long-term solution to global warming so we avoid losing the polar bear’s entire Arctic habitat.
Fortunately, some senators have stepped up to take the lead on legislation delivering smart, sensible solutions. The Climate Security Act, which the Senate is planning to consider this week, would reduce global warming pollution and protect America’s natural resources. By cutting our greenhouse gas emissions just 2 percent a year, we can not only treat our planet’s fever, but recharge our economy.
The Climate Security Act would change our energy priorities and put America back on the path to progress. Investing in clean energy alternatives can lay the foundation for a stronger economic future. It would create jobs here at home, save families and businesses money, and make America more energy independent.
We can’t solve the climate problem without cooperation from other countries. But we also can’t sit back and let other nations take the lead in innovating clean technology. The Climate Security Act addresses both issues, setting the stage for a new global agreement and giving businesses incentives to put America in the driver’s seat of the clean energy revolution. The world’s solutions to global warming should carry the "made in America" label.
We can confront global warming head-on and grow our economy. If you don’t believe it, ask the Bush administration’s own Department of Energy. Its analysis finds America’s economy will grow 74 percent by 2030 under the Climate Security Act, about the same as forecasts without the bill.
I’m fighting to solve our climate crisis because I believe we have a moral responsibility to our grandchildren to make sure they never live in a "used to be" world—where we used to have polar bears in places besides zoos and where we used to be able to go fishing before the water got too warm for the brook trout.
The polar bear is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re already seeing struggling salmon on the Pacific coast, disappearing moose in Minnesota, and dying coral off Florida’s coast. These problems will only get worse the longer we wait to act. If America’s natural resources are already showing the strains of a warming climate now, what will be the impacts to our nation if temperatures rise four degrees? That’s what scientists tell us is possible within the lifetime of children born today if we don’t act now to bring our greenhouse gas emissions under control.
Congress must strengthen and pass the Climate Security Act. Our future depends on it.
Larry Schweiger is president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.