Media release - March 8, 2007
A memo recently issued by the Bush administration would restrict all discussion by government officials involving climate change science and global warming impacts threatening the polar bear.
The memo was obtained by the Center
for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) and places new restrictions on government
employees to refrain from discussion of "climate change, sea ice,
and/or polar bears." The memo also indicates that any travel
putting an employee in the position of such discussion could
require "a statement of assurance that these individuals understand
the Administration's position on these issues."
"This is truly outrageous and
reflects a new 'low' for the Bush administration even though it has
already built quite a track record of censoring scientists on the
issue of global warming," said Kert Davies, Greenpeace Research
Director.
The memo was issued less than three
months after the December 2006 announcement by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service that it would consider protecting polar bears
under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) in response to a
petition and lawsuit filed by the environmental groups.
In December of 2006, scientists from
the National Center for Atmospheric Research
said that the Arctic could be
ice-free in summer as early as 2040, and in the next 20 years the
extent of Arctic sea ice will be reduced by 80 percent. The U.S.
Minerals Management Service documented the drowning of at least
four polar bears in September 2004, when the sea ice retreated a
record 160 miles off the northern coast.
Polar bears live only in the Arctic
and are totally dependent on the sea ice for all of their essential
needs. The rapid warming of the Arctic and melting of the sea ice
poses an overwhelming threat to polar bears, which could become the
first mammal to lose 100 percent of their habitat to global
warming.
"It's no surprise that an
administration which has been in lockstep with the oil industry
since day one would fight any effort to substantively address the
issue of global warming, but this really should raise some eyebrows
in Congress. We hope the investigators in the Senate and House
Committees start asking questions and get some answers on this,"
said Davies.
VVPR info: jane.kochersperger@wdc.greenpeace.org
Exp. contact date: 2007-04-08 00:00:00