Environment

A-ha. Actual scientific analysis of weather potentialities ! How refreshing ! Chill out Global Warming Wonks !

This story is very disheartening. I wish we could send our military down to help Brazil protect the Amazon (rather than having them bogged down in Iraq).

Government taken to court? When will that ever happen? Let’s remember the Supreme Court has been hand selected by king bush himself.

That’s just cover-your-ass speak so that he’s not held responsible when the government is taken to court for failing to actually enforce the protections.

I’m both shocked and pleased that the Bush Administration approved this – after all, it will gasp make it more difficult for us to acquire all that delicious fossil fuel from the Arctic! However, I find Mr. Kempthorne’s comment to be a bit contradictory: "While the legal standards under the ESA compel me to list the polar bear as threatened, I want to make clear that this listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting. Any real solution requires action by all major economies for it to be effective. That’s why I’m taking administrative and regulatory action to make certain the ESA isn’t abused to make global warming policies."

Who else is all for abusing the ESA to make global warming policies? So what, we declare them endangered and then do absolutely nothing to ensure that their habitat is protected, and therefore that they survive as a species? Who are these "major economies"? I know that China is increasingly oil-hungry, but the USA uses exponentially more fuel than any other countries in the world, we’re the major contributor to global warming.. so most of this falls on our shoulders. I hope that this isn’t another "Clean Air Act". It’s one thing to put polar bears on the endangeres species list; it’s quite another to take the action required to prevent their extinction.

There is no such thing as clean coal. Its a re-branding on the same dirty thing.

Gates understands full well the implications.  He knows neo-cons will spend money on coal.  And it seems windmills.