Polar Bear Opposites

I'll apologize up front for directing you to a video including Glenn Beck. He's a repugnant human being and I would give my left hand to slap him with my right hand. But he interviewed presumptive VP candidate Sarah Palin a few months ago and I thought a few of her views were utter nonsense.

Sarah Palin is an intelligent, yet agenda-driven person and her utilitarian views on Alaskan oil bubble through. Regarding the interview:

1) Palin says the Polar Bear population has increased over the last 30 years and they should not be listed as an Endangered Species. There are several sub-populations of Polar Bears around the Arctic. 5 are declining, 5 are static, 2 are increasing and 7 populations are indeterminate. I don't know the specific number of Polar Bears in each sub-population but overall there are about 25,000 bears. The problem is global warming - which Palin reportedly doesn't believe is occurring, is causing the Arctic ice sheets to melt. Polar Bears hunt by seeking out ice holes that seals use to breathe air. They then catch and eat the seals which I hear are delicious. As the ice continues to decrease and habitat becomes more fragmented, Polar Bears that require the ice will suffer and could very well become extinct.

2) Palin refers to the oil and natural gas in Alaska as "our oil". "Our" being Alaska's and she demands the right to drill immediately in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Federal land is protected and the natural resources on it, in it and under it belong to the American people. Congress can approve the drilling in ANWR, but they haven't since it is considered to be an insufficient amount. Drilling would be restricted to a small area, but getting the oil to refineries would be environmentally damaging. Pipelines would disrupt Caribou migrations at the least and the 19 million acre refuge was established in the 60's (and planned before Alaska was a state) to protect the natural ecosystem. McCain and Obama are against drilling in ANWR.

3) Palin suggests we are "fighting over energy supplies" in the wars the US is currently waging. Really? I thought it was about "weapons of mass destruction." Did we invade a foreign country to assure oil rights? I do believe she is on the record as saying what most politicians have not.

When Nixon called for the creation of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, Congress approved legislation that "was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a consequence of economic growth and development untendered by adequate concern and conservation." Polar Bears are perfectly qualified for this protection. They simply "mess around" with Palin's oil and gas drilling interests so the state of Alaska is suing the Federal Government to keep the bears from being listed.

As the former chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Sarah Palin is an appropriate spokesperson for the continued pressure to utilize the natural resources of Alaska, but she clearly cares little for the plant and wildlife of Alaska, nor Endangered Species Act that was created to protect them.

Let's NOT bring these ideals to the lower 49. I won't be voting for McCain/Palin.