Markey: Polar Bear Told to Sink or Swim
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081
Markey: Polar Bear Told to Sink or Swim
Bush Admin. Gives Gift to Big Oil, Short Shrift to Polar Bear, Says Chairman
WASHINGTON (May 14, 2008) – Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which held a hearing on the plight of the polar bear and has pushed for the listing of the bear, reacted today to the decision of the Bush administration to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to global warming. The administration included exemptions to the decision, however, that won’t allow the needed reductions of global warming pollution and will allow oil drilling to continue in a major polar bear habitat.Below is the statement of Chairman Markey:
“If the Bush administration is forcing the polar bear to sink or swim, how can they be trusted to save humankind from global warming?
“After years of delay, the Bush administration was forced to face the reality that global warming has endangered the polar bear and that the polar bear needs to be placed on the Endangered Species Act.
“But the administration has also simultaneously announced a rule aimed at allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic to continue unchecked even in the face of the polar bear's threatened extinction.
“Essentially, the administration is giving a gift to Big Oil, and short shrift to the polar bear.”
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The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was formed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to increase the visibility and priority given to America's oil dependence and global warming challenges. It is chaired by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and will actively explore the solutions, science and progress on these pressing issues during the 110th Congress.
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