Greenpeace

When I was in the 8th grade, I ran on the 4 x 4 relay team. One sunny Saturday on the rubber track still stands out in my mind. On that warm day, I ran a personal best for my leg of the relay, but our team lost the race in the end. On one hand, I was happy to have reached a new individual record, but on the other hand I was sad to have lost the race. Little did I know that feeling would come back years later while working at Greenpeace…..

The bittersweet emotion came yesterday, when I read a press statement from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announcing that they “are revoking an eleventh-hour Bush administration rule that undermined Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections.” In rolling back the legislation, they have ensured that federal agencies must consult with biologists when taking action that might further threaten endangered species. Wooo hooo! Yipeee! Hurray!

While it is nice to revel in this environmental victory, the overall picture isn’t as appealing. Secretary Salazar still has work to do to save the illustrious Polar Bear – he needs to withdraw the shameless exemption that removes global warming from the list of threats that must be considered when analyzing negative impacts to the Polar Bear under the ESA. If he doesn’t, it means that ice-bound Arctic species go extinct, thanks to human-made global warming pollution.

The interesting part of the story is that Greenpeace delivered 85,000 petitions to the Department of the Interior last week. Clearly, the Secretary has seen and heard the call to support the Polar Bear from supporters like you. Thank you! It really goes to show that we can make a difference when we pull together and when the government recommits itself to scientific integrity. But it also goes to show that government agencies move like honey, not like water, on environmental issues.

That leaves us with one oil-interested Bush regulation down and one left to go. Secretary Salazar has until May 9th to overturn the global warming exemption for the Polar Bear, so sign the petition now! Greenpeace is working to make sure that Salazar uses his authority to withdraw the regulation. After all, winning one lap doesn’t mean you’ve won the entire race.

I have a giant poster with pictures of polar bears on it next to my desk. It reminds me of one of the reasons I work at Greenpeace: to help those that can’t help them selves.

The polar bear was listed as an Endangered Species in the waning Bush days, but global warming was removed from the list of threats that must be considered when assessing federal activities that might further endanger the polar bear. Polar bears, as we all know, are under grave threat from human-induced global warming, as their icy habitat is melting away (read more here). This is similar to being admitted to the hospital, only to be told that you won’t be receiving treatment!

In an effort to mitigate global warming and to save the prestigious polar bear, I headed to the Department of the Interior (DOI) in Washington, DC today and brought along two polar bear friends as well as some young activists (view a slideshow). We delivered a petition with nearly 85,000 signatures to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s office. The petition asks him to revoke the Bush regulations that undermine the Endangered Species Act protections for polar Bears.


After a long wait in the moody spring weather, a sharp representative from Secretary Salazar’s office – Ray Rivera, Director of External and Intergovernmental Affairs for the DOI – came out to greet us and take the petitions off our hands. Mr. Rivera noted that he “really had to hand it to us” because he “had already seen polar bears in four different states!” (One of the other states was California; we were there to welcome Sec. Salazar when he visited last week). I guess people are concerned about polar bears all over the country!


Rivera also assured us that Sec. Salazar is committed to scientific principles (Obama could have said this himself). This leaves us hoping that Sec. Salazar will use his authority to repeal the illogical and dangerous regulations that bar the polar bear from serious protection under the Endangered Species Act, so that dreamers like me can savor our polar bear posters rather than mourn them. But Sec. Salazar only has a limited time to exercise this authority!

We’ll be delivering more peitions to Salazar on May 7 and May 8, because the deadline for him to take action to save the polar bears is May 9th. Biodiversity is something we can all value, and it is clearly unacceptable to watch a species dwindle away until one day it vanishes completely. You still have time to sign the petition and help save the polar bears!