Polar bear politics

Here is an article that I recently read. It sheds some light on the global warming scare.

As a result of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said that the polar bear might be listed as a"threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Such a move might severely restrict oil and gas development in the Artic and could mean stricter greenhouse gas emission regulations for autos, because the ESA mandates certain property restrictions. Kempthorne said, "We are concerned that the polar bears' habitat is melting" due to global warming. But when asked if the polar bear is disappearing Interior spokesman Hugh Vickery said not yet. Actually according to the Polar Bear Study Group, a coalition of countries with polar bear populations, there is a stable population of 20,000-25,000 polar bears in the wild today. In 1950 there were only an estimated 5,000. The lawsuit, and polar bear-extinction paranoia, are the result of a single study on polar bear populations in the Hudson Bay region, which evidently has declined by 250 bears.