Dear President Bush,
As someone who cares about protecting wildlife, I am deeply troubled by your Administration's inaction on saving polar bears.
The Department of Interior has proposed listing polar bears under the Endangered Species Act. And Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey say that global warming and habitat loss could eliminate polar bears from Alaska by 2050.
Yet, your State of the Union contained little about what your administration will be doing during your final year in office to prevent their extinction.
Year after year, your budgets have called for harmful drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important onshore denning habitats for U.S. polar bears. Earlier this month, your Secretary of the Interior even approved the sale of drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea, potentially threatening even more bears with pollution, spills and disruptive activities.
I believe it is time for our country to get serious about saving polar bears. That's why I strongly urge you to...
* Direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to immediately list polar bears as "Threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.
* Abandon plans to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and
* Protect polar bears by scrapping plans to sell leasing rights to drill for oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea.
These actions alone will not save our polar bears, but I believe that -- combined with meaningful action to address climate change -- they are necessary steps to protecting one of America's most amazing animals.
Thank you for considering my comments.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
