Senator Lisa Murkowski Says Time to Focus the Nation on Energy Solutions

Ranking republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is just one of the many members of Congress addressing students and citizens as part of Focus the Nation's nationwide town halls on clean energy solutions, coming up April 18th, 2009.

On April 18th, what will you be doing to focus the nation?!

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Americans, Congress Critize Delay in Polar Bear Decision

Today the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing: "On thin ice: the future of the polar bear." The room was full, and there was a fairly good turnout of at least eight Congressmen and women. Children were among those in attendance, their eyes wide as they absorbed the strong words that flew from all sides of the room. Some "polar bears" even made an appearance, positioning themselves for coverage on C-SPAN and holding up signs.

Chairman Markey called the hearing today to press the Department of the Interior about its decision to delay the listing of the polar bear as threatened -- under the Endangered Species Act -- for up to one month, and to simultaneously offer up almost 30 million acres of the Chukchi Sea -- the polar bear's habitat -- for oil and gas lease sales on Feb. 6, before the decision is made. The hearing also provided a forum to learn more about the plight of the polar bear and the potential impacts drilling could have on polar bear populations. Markey called this hearing because people are paying attention; several editorials have been run in major papers in the US (Washington Post, NYTimes, LATimes, etc) regarding the status of this iconic species and our reckless oil habit - - the situation will not continue quietly if such pressure continues. If listed, the polar bear's protection would be linked to the impacts of global warming -- a first in history.

Throughout the course of the hearing it became OVERWHELMINGLY clear that the science surrounding the status of the polar bear is unequivocal. The threats posed to this great creature are tangible, quantifiable and ever increasing as we emit more global warming pollution each day. Congressman Inslee (D-WA) put it the best when he said that the polar bear is the largest canary in the largest coal mine regarding the future of our planet. And it is only with willful ignorance and habitual arrogance that we choose to ignore science for a temporary oil fix from the newly opened northern seas. Not only is drilling in the Chukchi Sea devastating for wildlife, it does nothing to help us move away from our addiction to oil.


Randall Luthi, Director of the Minerals Management Service, spoke in defense of the Chukchi Sea oil and gas lease sale, and Dale Hall, Director of US FWS, spoke in defense of the decision delay. Mr. Hall's own agency received scientific reports which concluded that two-thirds of the polar bears would disappear because of shrinking sea ice by mid-century if steps are not taken to curtail global warming. What additional science does Mr. Hall require, when making the decision about the polar bear? These men offered weak testimony, and attempted to dodge every single direct question posed to them by Congressmen, including questions of oil spill risk and whether the leases would really just be another handoff to the oil and gas industry. Hall further declined to offer Markey any assurance that the decision on whether to list the bear under the Endangered Species Act will occur before the scheduled oil & gas lease sales.

The Department of the Interior is currently allowing our hunger and thirst for oil to surpass all other forms of human value. Dirk Kempthorne - the Secretary of the Interior - has the worst record in history regarding listing species as endangered; he has gone more than 617 days without designating an endangered species, longer than any previous Secretary. His lack of action is not due to a lack of species' needs.

Congressman Markey stated that he will be introducing legislation to delay the Chukchi Sea lease sale until after a decision regarding the polar bear is made...

The bottom line is that Dirk Kempthorne has the power to postpone the oil and gas lease sale decision until after Mr. Hall makes his decision regarding the polar bear. He needs to do this, and he will only do this if enough public attention, and pressure is applied. So please speak up!

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Polar Bear Decision Delayed, Oil & Gas Lease Sales Set to Go

The polar bear was once the world’s most formidable predator. It now lies on the brink of extinction due to global warming and habitat loss. The bear and its habitat stand to gain some protections under the Endangered Species Act this year, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was due to make a decision about its "threatened" status by this Wednesday. The Service has, however, delayed the listing for up to one month!

This leaves the bear and its habitat unprotected. Coincidentally, one of the largest oil and gas lease sales is set to occur on February 6, in the Chukchi Sea off of the northwest coast of Alaska – a region we will pay more and more attention to as our world warms and the sea opens up for potential large-scale exploration, I mean preservation… The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service announced its plan to offer oil and gas exploration rights in February to 29.7 million acres in the remote Chukchi Sea off the northwest Alaskan coast. There are about 16,000 polar bears in the region. Such exploration would further stress the polar bear, and does nothing for our movement toward a clean energy future.

The timing raises suspicions that the Bush Administration is doing this in an effort to avoid scrutiny of oil and gas leases in polar bear habitat under the Endangered Species Act. Yes… and:

Both the decision to list the polar bear, and the decision to delay the oil and gas lease sale in the Chukchi Sea fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. You can contact Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, and petition the DOI to halt the sale of oil and gas leases in this northern sea, if there really is no connection between the two…

Also: TheGreenMiles entry about this on DailyKos.

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Alaska's Governor Starts Exploring Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

New subcabinet on global warming created - Governor Palin's desire to curb contributions to global warming represents shift in emphasis

[From the Anchorage Daily News:]

Gov. Sarah Palin plans to explore ways Alaska can reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions as part of a global-warming strategy to be developed by a new subcabinet of top administration officials.

State officials said this week that Palin's new subcabinet will develop policies to help the state adapt to climate changes that have been more pronounced in Alaska than elsewhere.

For the first time, the state will also begin looking for ways to curb Alaska's own contribution to the global atmospheric problem, officials said.

[Image: The phenomenon of 'drunken forests' seen above is just one of the many effects of global warming visible in Alaska. As permafrost melts and soil sags, trees lose their 'footing' and end up tilting 'drunkenly' and frequently falling.]

One of the state's first tasks: respond to a petition filed two weeks ago by an environmental coalition urging mandatory reporting by large Alaska industries of their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The environmental groups said self-reporting, even without mandatory emission limits, would spur companies to cut pollution.

The state's interest in curbing emissions represents a new emphasis for Palin, who pronounced herself unconvinced about global warming science during her campaign for governor last year.

"From my first meeting with her on this topic, I could tell she was interested in it and in the new information that was coming out," said Larry Hartig, Palin's commissioner of environmental conservation, who will be chairman of the new subcabinet.

An international report released in February by the United Nations' main scientific panel concluded there was no longer reasonable doubt that human activities were the main cause behind the documented increase in global temperatures.

Because of Alaska's northern latitude, the state is already seeing bigger impacts of climate change than most of the world. Dealing with those changes, some of them severe, will remain the state's first priority, Hartig said.

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't be doing our fair share on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," he added.

If anything, the state government has been on the other side of global warming politics until now.

Polar bears are one example. On Tuesday, the Palin administration released its official opposition to a federal proposal to declare polar bears a "threatened" species. The state asserted that Alaska populations of polar bears are healthy and said worries about the bear are based on questionable projections of a shrinking polar ice cap.

The state also sided with the auto industry before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case heard last year, opposing efforts to push the Bush administration to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

Meanwhile, Alaska has seen increased erosion, melting of permafrost, dying forests and receding glaciers. The state Legislature finally got involved last year, creating a commission to assess the impacts of climate change in Alaska. That commission, which meets in Anchorage today and Friday, is not looking at causes of global warming or ways to begin solving the problem.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, expressed the state's past ambivalence in an interview aired on National Public Radio on Tuesday when he said, "We see the results. We want to deal with the results now and let other people argue about the causes."

That national debate over causes and solutions appears to be moving toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions by industry, utilities and automobiles.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against the Alaska side in the Clean Air Act case. That decision could lead someday to a stronger federal role in regulating carbon dioxide emissions. Stevens himself introduced legislation this year to improve fuel economy in automobiles, saying this could reduce greenhouse gases.

But the state can do something about the problem right away by requiring industry to report emissions, Trustees for Alaska said in a petition representing 13 Alaska organizations. The environmental groups said a similar reporting program for toxic emissions, instituted nationally in 1986, led to substantial voluntary reductions by industry.

"Alaska is ground zero for the impacts from global warming, and it should be leading the nation in seeking solutions to it," said Randy Virgin, executive director for the Alaska Center for the Environment.

Some other states have imposed reporting requirements, which seem to be gaining acceptance from industry. Exxon Mobil has been reporting its emissions worldwide for four years, said company spokesman Dave Gardner.

Conoco Phillips went farther this week, announcing it is joining BP in support of a federal emissions cap -- in part to avoid a patchwork of state-imposed limits.

Hartig said no decision has been made on the environmentalists' March 29 petition, which legally must be answered in 30 days. But he said their proposal is generally in line with steps already under way by the state to figure out where greenhouse gas emissions in Alaska are being generated.

A preliminary consultant's report, done with eight other Western states, found that air transportation and oil and gas production were major sources in Alaska. The DEC is planning a more detailed follow-up report, Hartig said.

The new Palin subcabinet on climate change will include the heads of the Fish and Game, Natural Resources and Commerce departments, along with the state's Washington, D.C., office chief John Katz and a representative of the University of Alaska, Hartig said.

The group's first steps will involve gathering information, he said.

"Some states have set goals about reducing emissions by a certain percentage," Hartig said. "I don't think we have enough information in Alaska at this point to do that."


Good to see Alaska's government starting to come around on climate change. Given how significantly the state will be (and already is) affected by climate change, you'd think the Alaska would be at the forefront of state's taking action to curb global warming pollution. Instead, Governor Palin and the state government have tended to be on the wrong side of the issue, but perhaps they are starting to come around. Progress...

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