Polar Bear Population Increases - But They’re Listed as “Threatened”
I hate it when species are threatened. Once I went crabbing in Georgia and pretty easily caught a stone crab on about my first try, only to have the native Georgians tell me that they’re a protected species.
Nevermind that we caught so much of them they seemed to be as common as squirrels - they were PROTECTED. Apparently we crabbed right by the Great Stone Crab Nest of North America.
Well, another booming, prospering species has been given special status by the American government - squirrels. No, actually polar bears. But didn’t you believe me for a second?
Mind you, a U.S. Senate report has debunked the “polar bear extinction fears”:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that the polar bear population is currently at 20,000 to 25,000 bears, up from as low as 5,000-10,000 bears in the 1950s and 1960s.
But now they’re “threatened” as far as the Interior Department can see. This is what happens when the government gets involved where it doesn’t belong. But it’s not just another case of “oh, you silly government - always up in our business.” It could lead to some more power for the global warming nuts.
Listing the polar bear as a threatened species would have significant public policy consequences. It would set a new precedent, representing the first linkage of species endangerment with global warming. Such a listing would basically wall off the entire Arctic region to exploration, resource extraction, and development–at least by U.S. companies–and a threatened species listing would give environmental groups the ability to sue future U.S. governments to force them to reverse climate change by whatever means necessary.
But nevermind, nevermind! Think of the polar bears! Think of those increasingly common, flourishing polar bears!
Treehuggers will now be able to play the polar bear card and say that global warming is a danger to a “threatened” species. And you, because you buy food, burn gas, and occasionally indulge in the subtle yet distinctive joys of flatulence, are to blame.
You nutrition-needing, place-traveling, wind-breaking mamma jamma. How dare you!
Fine. I get it. You can’t keep the stone crab because it’s protected. But if I can’t burn fuel here in America because people want to pretend the polar bear is dying, that’s just ridiculous.
(Note: I had a thought that secretly, the Georgians were jealous that I caught a stone crab so easily, especially given my Yankee status and obvious northern Midwestern accent. Then again, they’re so easy to catch, it shouldn’t really cause any envy. As you saw on their Wikipedia page, the stone crabs were just in a non-harvest season.)
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