conomic development over environmental protectionism and conservation. During his two terms in office, President Bill Clinton authorized 521 species to be added the endangered species list (Numbers 19). In comparison, during his seven years in office, President George W. Bush has authorized a total number of 59 species (Numbers 19). The Bush Administration's disregard for conservation and environmental protectionism is well documented, including failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The low number of species added to the endangered species list by the Bush Administration caused Wild Earth Guardians, a wildlife conservation activist group, to file a lawsuit seeking an additional 681 species be added to the list "at once" (Numbers 19).
The current administration has also sought to satisfy America's insatiable desire for oil by increasing oil drilling in pristine environments like the Arctic. Diane Cole (19) reports that, in the past year, the U.S. government have dove into the icy waters in the Arctic in two ways, "opening Alaskan bear sanctuaries to oil drilling, and deciding whether they are indeed a 'threatened' species, one small step away from the label 'endangered.'" Oil and gas drilling leases for 46,000 square miles in northwest Alaska's Chuchki Sea became available for sale in January through the Minerals Management Service (MMS). This area is a major habitat for polar bears. Though the MMS strongly argued that leases will be "strictly monitored" to protect endangered species, many have their doubts and fear oil discovery could lead to greater areas of habitat destruction (Cole 19).
Many environmentalists already believe the Polar Bear is in danger of extinction because of "thinning ice" in their Arctic habitat, something that a Department of Interior study reveals may reduced the current world population of bears (20,000-25,000) by as much as "two-thirds" in the n...