Extinct is Forever

Polar bears are becoming endangered and the Inuit of Baffin Bay are opposing the government’s decision to cut the quota of polar bears that can be hunted. When you consider that the polar bear is the first species to become endangered by global warming, it is hard not to see the Inuit’s position. Cutting the hunting quota to 65 bears from 105 is going to have a negligible affect on the rate of decline of their population considering the number of polar bears that are drowning in the newly opened sea.

The same week the Nunavut Government announced the hunting quota reduction, the Alberta Government announced a new oil and gas royalty regime that will stimulate more oil exploration while making a commitment to “streamline regulator approvals for the oil and gas industry”. Read - ease environmental regulations and standards. Alberta already has the reputation of producing some of the world’s dirtiest oil and we’re going to ease our environmental standards? Is there anyone even awake out there or are we all too busy making a buck and taking care of our own?

Arctic ice is melting faster than even the most paranoid scientists could imagine, and our ecology is changing forever. Forever. That’s a long time. A heck of a lot longer than our oil reserves are going to last.

“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” - Ansel Adams (1902 -1984)