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Polar Bear VS global warming
last update: Apr 05, 2008 12:28 PM
Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, accusses the Bush administration of putting the polar bear population at risk because of oil lease sales.
The oil lease sales would be for Alaska's Chukchi Sea, where one-fifth of the world's polar bears live.
Boxer said: "The administration went ahead and accepted bids, even though oil and gas activities may disturb polar bears making a den, and even though an oil spill could pose big risks to the polar bear population."
There is a lot of pressure on the Interior Department as environmentalists want a decision whether to list the polar bear as endangered. They would be the first species being considerd because of global warming.
Some believe that listing listing the polar bear as endangered could have serious economic implications. Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican; "Virtually every human activity that involved the release of carbon into the atmosphere would have to be regulated by the federal government."
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