Protect Polar Bears From Global Warming

Dear Interior Secretary Ken Salazar,

I am very disappointed that you decided not to cut through the red tape and restore protections for polar bears immediately.

The polar bear's Arctic sea ice habitat is melting away, the Arctic seals which polar bears hunt for food are becoming increasingly scarce, and the cause is clearly global warming.

Yet, the Obama administration is leaving in place a rule that says activities that cause global warming -- and therefore harm polar bears -- will not be considered violations of the Endangered Species Act. That made no sense under the Bush administration, and it certainly makes no sense for under the new administration, which has promised to place science over political positioning.

[Your personal comments will be added here.]

As a supporter of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund and someone who cares about America's vanishing polar bears, I strongly urge you to review the science and institute meaningful protection for this endangered species.

The polar bear 4(d) rule exempts activities outside the Arctic that cause global warming from being considered a violation of the Endangered Species Act. This makes no sense, given that the principal threat to polar bears is the melting of their Arctic sea ice habitat due to global warming.

Our polar bears are running out of time. Scientists say that they Alaska's polar bears could be extinct in the wild by the end of the century, but the impacts of global warming on these ice hunters can already be seen.

Rising temperatures are robbing polar bears of vital habitat and melting the sea ice they use for hunting and raising their cubs. These strong swimmers are even drowning in their search for adequate sea ice or starving to death. It is so bad that some are even resorting to cannibalism to survive.

I am disappointed in your decision to adhere to a poor decision made by the previous administration, and urge you to listen to science rather than Big Oil.

Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to your reply.