I am deeply concerned about the survival of polar bear. I am writing to urge you to join representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) in co-sponsoring the Polar Bear Seas Protection Act, H.R. 6057. This important legislation will halt oil and gas leases in the polar bear%u2019s Arctic habitat until scientists can fully assess the environmental impacts and designate protected critical habitat.
The Beaufort and Chukchi seas off the northern coast of Alaska, known as the Polar Bear Seas, are home to one-fifth of the world's polar bear population. This is the essential habitat for the recently listed polar bear and should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
We cannot afford to leave polar bears unprotected against the ongoing threats of global warming and continued development in the Arctic. The Arctic sea ice is rapidly diminishing and scientists predict that the habitat crucial to the bears%u2019 survival may be gone by mid-century.
Even the Bush administration recognized the grave threat posed by melting sea ice when it listed the polar bear as threatened on May 15, 2008, but it undercut any real protection for the bear or its habitat by refusing to designate or protect the bear's critical habitat. In fact, the administration is still rushing to open millions of acres of the Polar Bear Seas to potential oil and gas development.
The Polar Bear Seas Protection Act is a vital piece of legislation to protect polar bears and their Arctic environment. It will fill the massive loophole created by the administration by prohibiting environmentally damaging oil and gas development in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas until the impacts are fully investigated. Further, H.R. 6057 will require the government to prove it is capable of effectively responding to an oil spill in the harsh climatic conditions of these Arctic waters.
I urge you to protect polar bears and their sea ice habitat by cosponsoring H.R. 6057, the Polar Bear Seas Protection Act.
Last month the Bush administration was forced to recognize the serious threats to polar bear survival, listing the bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
But just as it made one step forward to protect the bear, the administration took two steps back -- refusing to address the effects of global warming on the rapidly melting sea ice and allowing environmentally damaging oil and gas development to continue in the Arctic.
To counter this massive loophole, representatives Jay Inslee and Maurice Hinchey have introduced a bill to halt oil and gas leases in the bears' Arctic habitat until scientists can fully assess the environmental impacts and designate protected critical habitat.
Support the "Polar Bear Seas Protection Act" and ensure that polar bears get the protection they need to survive.
We can%u2019t afford to leave polar bears unprotected against the ongoing threats of global warming and continued development in the Arctic. The Arctic sea ice is rapidly diminishing and scientist predict that the habitat crucial to the bears%u2019 survival may be gone by mid-century. We must act now.
The Polar Bear Seas Protection Act will help ensure that the bears get the immediate protection they need. Urge Congress to protect polar bears today.
Find out more and take action at: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24969
