A leaked memo from an official in the U.S. Department of the Interior warns government officials traveling to other countries to avoid discussing topics "involving or potentially involving climate change, sea ice, and/or polar bears."
While the Bush administration continues to debate whether or not to list polar bears as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, emissaries of the U.S. government are advised—at least in meetings with the officials of countries bordering the Arctic Circle—to avoid the controversial issue altogether.
As an Independent (UK) article reposted at ClimateArk notes:
Arctic sea ice and the polar bear are especially sensitive issues at present because American scientists have pointed out that the world's biggest land carnivore is unlikely to survive if the Arctic sea ice disappears in summer, which it is predicted to do by the end of the century.
Get the full story at ClimateArk, here.
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