A Polar Shift in Thinking

A polar Shift in Thinking May 16, 2008 | By Dave In political | Edit Post

Hello, I am gonna die because you people suck.

Ever see the film The Arctic Tale? You should.

They are intelligent and beautiful animals. They live in the arctic circle, an area along the front lines of the fight against Global Warming. Polar bears hunt by walking out on the ice sheet. The ice sheets are weaker now than ever before and break off very easily. Now, the polar bear can swim, but when the sea ice breaks off, sometimes they have to swim too far, or maybe they get to the edge only to have it continuously break off as they try to climb back up onto the top. Sounds like a scene out of a Wes craven film doesnt it? Well it happens. Correction: its happening.

Global Warming is effecting the poles at a more noticeable rate than that of say, Kansas. Its much easier to see in the arctic. The same arctic that has been under fire by BIG OIL and BIG Government, for drilling rights. So they can provide themselves with more profits&&oh yeah and get us taxpaying citizens cheaper gas&.right? Probably not.

But there is some good news for our northernmost teddy bear friends.

On Wednesday May 15th, after much discussion and debate, the polar bear was officially listed as Threatened. No shit. I dont know what gave that away. While I will say this is a small step forward, we are in need of a huge jump. The current administration is just too afraid of their corporate sponsors to do the right thing.

The problem with the threatened tag as opposed to the endangered tag is that threatened doesnt prevent drilling and mining practices. It makes them a tiny bit harder. However, to me the real problem is not in the actual decision but in the fact it took nearly 3 years to come to this decision. We have problems that cant wait that long for solutions.

The bad guys (think cheney) think the polar bear population is fine. Apparently a 30% decrease over the next decade or so is acceptable. Canadian wildlife officials say that 4 of 13 polar bears will die if current conditions continue. To me, thats a lot. I think there are grave consequences for not protecting species and areas. Consequences that are bigger than not having enough oil to drill. Because realistically lets face the truth, the only need for oil is a need for money by big corporations being lead by people who cant bear (pun intended) to see their profits dip in the slightest.

Now, Im not na￯ve. I realize that in our economy and lives, oil is central, maybe even critical. But we have reached, no, we have passed the time to do something about that. We have ignored science since the earliest days of American expansion. The American government sent a team west back when there was no west to see whether it was feasible to expand in that direction. Guess what the scientists said. NO The report said, the lack of water was completely prohibitive to human settlement. Did we listen? No. And we are not listening now.

We dont need more oil to come from places that can not be replaced. We need better solutions than that. And for the most part&..we have them. The power is within us to control it. Ive mentioned before in previous posts how seemingly unconnected things connect. Who would have thought that you could save a polar bears life by taking the bus instead of driving.

Or maybe trading in your stupid Yukon Denali for a smaller car. Because you dont have 11 children, your not a moving company, and your not the worlds tallest person. Meaning: YOU DONT NEED A CAR THAT SEATS 12 PEOPLE!!!

But seriously for a second, we all have access to the knowledge we need to make the better decision. There is a great blog about SUV sales finally coming down at http://thingsthatmakeyougogreen.com/demand-for-small-cars-skyrockets-as-gas-prices-continue-to-increase/2008/05/05/

Use the information we have people. Even if your Rush Limbaugh and you think Global Warming is science fiction because you are ignorant. Cant we agree that being kind to the earth is still a good thing? Isnt spending less money and saving more money&..better? I cant think of a single reason why anyone should have a vendetta against the polar bear&&maybe you were frightened by them at the zoo as a kid&.i dunno? What I do know is that I have the information I need to make educated decisions and I plan on using that information.

Do you?

About The Author David Chaves is originally from Providence Rhode island but currently resides in The San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. He is a musician by trade and sings in a band called RED AGAIN. His website is dedicated to educating people on environmental issues and is known for not shying away from unpopular or radical ideas.