People Before Profit blog

How to prepare for Hurricane Sandy’s impact and aftermath

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:33:00 +0000

Hurricane Sandy, one of the largest hurricanes in decades, is slamming into the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States. Bill Hauenstein, AFL-CIO Community Services liaison for the Northeast region, provides useful links for union leaders, members and families preparing for and dealing with Sandy's impact and aftermath.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Tips: Before, During and After Hurricanes and Floods

http://www.ready.gov/hurricanes
http://www.ready.gov/floods

FEMA Resources and Recovery Centers

http://www.fema.gov/resources-3
http://www.fema.gov/disaster-recovery-centers

American Red Cross Assistance

http://www.redcross.org/find-help

Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, reminds us that when Sandy hits and when communities begin recovery and repair efforts, "union workers - public sector, private sector and building trades - will be there for us."

Supermarket and retail workers making sure that supplies are available; utility and communication workers laboring day and night to keep the lights and phones on; police officers, firefighters and EMS professionals maintaining our safety; transportation workers preserving our subway, commuter rail and bus infrastructure; state, county and municipal employees keeping the roads clear; construction workers repairing our homes, businesses and community; hospital workers providing care to our family, friends and neighbors; teachers and child care workers keeping our children safe until we can be with them; and hotel workers making sure there is a place to stay for those who cannot remain home. The list goes on and on. Working men and women make our state run, not just during emergencies but every day.

Follow updates on Hurricane Sandy on FEMA's blog.

Reposted from the AFL-CIO NOW blog.

Photo: Waves break against a bulkhead in the Brigands Bay area of Frisco, N.C., on Sunday, as the sound side flooding begins on Hatteras Island. Steve Earley/The Virginian-Pilot/AP

Mega-storm now underway a taste of what may be

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:45:00 +0000

The "Frankenstorm" bearing down on the East Coast is the latest example of the reality of climate change-induced mega storms and extreme weather events. It is also a reminder that voters in the 2012 Elections have a stark choice between radically different approaches to dealing with climate change, environmental policy, and science.

According to polls, climate change and global warming could be a "sleeper" issue, particularly in close Congressional races. This reflects the concern of a majority of voters that global warming is a reality and a growing threat to the planet.

The dismissive attitude of Republicans toward climate change starts from the top of the ticket. At the Republican Convention, presidential candidate Mitt Romney mocked President Obama's recognition of the peril of global warming.

"(He) promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family," said Romney

"How can we have a man running for the office of the president of the United States - denying global climate change and endorsing oil subsidies?" asked the actor Robert Redford, to a gathering of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). "You really wonder what kind of world and what kind of a time is this man living in?"

If Romney is bad on the environment, his vice presidential running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, an avowed climate change denier, is even worse.

Romney and Ryan embrace the environmental plank adopted at the Republican Convention, the worst in history. Its policy is based on unleashing capitalist market forces, turning environmental regulation over to corporate polluters.

The platform would remove environmental protections by severely weakening the EPA. It promotes a radical increase of fossil fuel use and fracking while scoffing at development of renewable energy and curbing CO2 emissions.

The LCV, Sierra Club, Clean Water Action Fund, Environment America, and other major environmental groups firmly back President Obama. Despite criticisms that the administration is moving too slowly, and shortcomings of several administration policies, the groups see Obama's reelection as key to the fight for an environmentally sustainable future.

"From enacting the mercury safeguards to setting carbon pollution standards for power plants, President Obama and his exemplary Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Lisa Jackson, have tackled some of the most dire and pressing threats to our health, families, and planet," said Mary Ann Hitt, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign.

Environmentalists also laud Obama for tightening fuel-efficiency rules as part of the auto bailout and increasing them to an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

"The Obama administration has acted thoughtfully to address one of the biggest threats to her future -- climate disruption -- by first thoroughly reviewing the science, and then putting carbon pollution standards in place" to modernize the nation's energy production, said Hitt.

Also at stake is a pro-science, pro-environment majority in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Millions of dollars are pouring into key races from the likes of Wal-Mart, Koch Brothers, the tea party, and others to elect some of the most extreme, anti-science, anti-environment Republican candidates.

Already, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are viewed as the most anti-environment in history.

If Republicans win a majority in the U.S. Senate, the ranking member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works that would oversee the EPA would be Sen. James Inhofe, a virulent climate change denier who wrote a book about global warming entitled "Hoax."

Republicans aim to undo every gain made over the past four years in environmental policy. Most support rolling back or even the outright elimination of the EPA.

Nearly every Republicans running for U.S. Senate is a climate change denier.

Among the worst is former Sen. George Allen, running against former governor Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in Virginia. Allen got a one-percent rating from the LVC and headed the American Energy Freedom Center funded by the oil companies and Koch brothers.

"(Allen) and I have a different point of view on science," Kaine said. "(He) does not believe that human activity affects climate. So carbon isn't a problem. So we don't need to do anything about it. I think activity affects climate."

State treasurer Richard Mourdock, the Republican tea party candidate is running against Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly for the open senate seat in Indiana. Mourdock, already in the national spotlight for his reactionary view that pregnancy after rape is "something that God intended to happen" and a "gift from God," has an equally reactionary view of climate science.

"We are basing our energy policy on the greatest hoax of all time, which is that mankind is changing the climate," said Mourdock, a former coal-mining executive who is awash with oil, coal, and tea party money.

Democrat Elizabeth Warren, running to unseat Republican Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts has vowed to eliminate subsidies to the oil industry, develop green technologies, and oppose the Keystone XL pipeline. Brown takes the opposite approach and repeatedly voted to block the EPA from reducing carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act.

In Connecticut, Republican Linda McMahon says she'd dismantle the EPA. Her opponent, Rep. Chris Murphy has an LCV lifetime environmental score of 98 percent.

The list could go on but one thing is clear. A lot is riding on the outcome of the 2012 elections - the future of humankind.

Photo: Image of a fierce hurricane, seen from far above. kakela/Flickr

Thousands protest Enbridge pipeline in Canada

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:50:00 +0000

In Canada, thousands of protesters flooded the lawn of the British Columbia Legislature building in Victoria on October 22, for a "Defend Our Coast" demonstration against a proposed oil pipeline. The throng of activists consisted not only of environmentalists, but First Nations people as well, who voiced their concerns about oil projects taking place on their territory.

The target of protest was the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, a project that would, if approved, transport oil from Alberta's tar sands to Kitimat, British Columbia. The pipeline poses a similar threat to that of the Keystone XL project, which itself was the subject of demonstrations in Texas this month. Many believe the Enbridge pipeline would have equally devastating consequences, like giving Big Oil a greater degree of political influence, and stunting the growth of renewable energy in Canada.

Taking part in the Victoria protest was Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik'uz First Nation, who addressed an estimated 3,500 people. "We are demonstrating to show the strength of the support for First Nations people's rights to land and title, and the internationally protected right to free, prior, and informed consent on any development impacting our traditional territories," said Thomas.

To drive their point home, demonstrators assembled large canvas sheets that together depicted the outline of an oil tanker. When asked by Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt whether, if the Enbridge project were greenlighted, they were willing to lie down before pipeline bulldozers to cause interference, the protesters responded with a collective "YES!"

Maude Barlow, chair member of the advocacy group Council of Canadians, said the demonstration showed "that you can't gut Canada's environmental legislation and try to put a price tag on the B.C. coast without a public response." That statement referred to recent cuts in the Canadian government's environmental departments and massive layoffs of top world scientists - tactics which all seem to contribute to a concentrated effort to push Big Oil at the cost of environmental safety.

"Canada's iconic coast is far too valuable to risk on tar sands pipelines and tankers," Barlow concluded, "and we pledge to defend it."

"Why would we support a [project] that would put our rivers, oceans, and life source at risk?" said Sterritt. "It's time to shut down the Northern Gateway project."

"We will be the wall that Enbridge cannot break through," Thomas had declared months prior to the demonstration. She added that the pipeline posed a terrible threat to "the natural beauty and cultural richness of the B.C. coastline."

Acknowledging Big Oil's increasing dominance within the Canadian government, author/environmentalist Tzeporah Berman remarked, "There are moments in history where it is clear that our elected leaders are failing us, and it is necessary to take a stand. Today, we are stating our intentions of defending our coast and calling on others to join us. The risk of oil spills and irreversible harm to our tourism and fishing industries from these pipelines and tankers is just too great."

Those risks that a potential oil spill might pose cannot be understated, activists feel. The Northern Gateway pipeline in particular would span remote areas, cross nearly 800 streams full of salmon, and wend its way around and through the habitats of valued and protected species of animals. Also amongst the proposed pipeline territory are various First Nations communities.

Beyond that, other activists felt that completion of the pipeline would also crush any hopes to expand clean energy jobs in the area. "We pledge to defend our coast and the mountains, rivers, forests, wildlife, and First Nations communities of B.C. against this," said Susan Spratt, west regional director of the Canadian Auto Workers. "We want long-term green jobs that will take us beyond fossil fuels - not short-term, high-risk pipelines."

Nikki Skuce of environmental group ForestEthics concluded, "People have thought about the Enbridge pipeline as a real key issue, whether it's to do with climate change, [government] bullying, cutting environmental legislation, First Nation rights, or shipping resources and the jobs that go with it overseas.

"They'll do whatever it takes to try and stop this project."

Photo: Keri Coles/Greenpeace Canada, Flickr

Texas farmers face off against Keystone pipeline

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:11:00 +0000

Construction continues on TransCanada's Keystone XL oil pipeline. The 1,179-mile-long pipeline will stretch from Canada to southern Texas, delivering oil to refineries there. But there is an outcry among Texans who do not want pipelines snaking along their property - and who fear the environmental risks of potential spills.

Texas landowners have reportedly filed and appealed many lawsuits, which could slow the project's progress, adding to a laundry list of prior delays to the pipeline construction, including outcries from concerned environmentalists and Native American tribes. Texas farmers and workers from all walks of life are also staging protests; several of them have been arrested already this month.

For many of these farmers, the Keystone issue is a personal one; on August 23, Texas Judge Bill Harris had ruled that TransCanada could seize portions of land from owners who refused to sign an agreement with the corporation. Landowners do not want an oil pipeline running through their property, however. So they're fighting back.

"There's a lot of reasons that Texans are very proud of their land; you're proud when you own land and you are the master of that land, and you control that land," said Julia Trigg Crawford, who is trying to stop the condemnation of a section of her family's 650-acre farm in Sumner, Texas. And despite offers of compensation by the company for her willingness to surrender the land, she added, "this is not about the money. This is about the right of a landowner to control what happens on their land."

And the project, moreover, offers no local economic benefits. Nearly 50 percent of the steel being used to make the pipeline is not American-made, and the corporation has no intention of using only workers in the U.S.; in particular, it has made no promises to rely primarily on local workers.

"This is a foreign company," said Crawford. "Most people believe that as this product gets to the Houston area and is refined, it's probably then going to be shipped outside the United States. So if this product is not going to wind up as gasoline or diesel fuel in your vehicles or mine, then what kind of energy independence is this creating for us?"

Despite the championing of the project by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who during the first presidential debate declared, "We're going to bring in that pipeline from Canada," the economic and energy benefits of Keystone XL are questionable. Most who oppose Romney's pro-oil agenda believe that pursuit of the pipeline is simply not worth putting the environment at risk, nor is it worth encroaching on the property of landowners.

Among the Texas activists arrested this month was 78 year-old Eleanor Fairchild, a great grandmother who was forced to spend a night in jail for trespassing on condemned land on her own 425-acre farm.

The outrageous ability of TransCanada to condemn private property is the general reason for most of the lawsuits being filed against it by Texas residents.

Fairchild said she has been strongly against Keystone XL for years before construction began, and will continue to protest and stand in solidarity with other landowners and environmentalists.

"What this foreign corporation's doing just isn't right," she remarked. "I want the world to know that Texans do not want this pipeline forced through their homes. From the White House to my house, I don't want this pipe threatening anyone's house anywhere in the world."

Photo: TarSandsBlockade.org

Chinese activists don't want Canada's ill-begotten seal products

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:10:00 +0000

In an open letter to the Canadian Senate, 50 Chinese environmental and animal welfare groups have asked that the exportation of seal products from Canada to China be stopped immediately. The letter made it perfectly clear that activists found the practice of killing seals for fur and meat barbaric, and - as more and more countries around the world ban seal products - unnecessary.

Not counting natural causes, the commercial seal-hunting industry accounts for approximately 97 percent of Canadian seal deaths, while just around three percent is due to hunting by indigenous tribes. The commercial industry itself has profited from the deaths of over 70,000 harp seals this year so far, a level more than twice as high as the year before. Most believe the higher catcher level is directly related to the opening of markets in China.

"We are writing to the Senate because we are disappointed in the Canadian government," said Madame Qin Xiaona, director of the Beijing-based Capital Animal Welfare Association, in the letter. "We want Canadian senators to realize that Ottawa's promotion of seal products in China is unwise and short-sighted; it has caused irreparable damage to Canada's reputation in China. Our campaign against seal product trade will continue until the Canadian government ceases its efforts to promote these products of cruelty in China."

Adding insult to injury for activists, Canadian seal hunting industry representatives remarked that China ought to welcome seal products - especially seal meat - with open arms, because "Chinese people will eat anything."

Statements such as that, Xiaona wrote, are "offensive to say the least, and highly misleading. In China, seals are a protected species, and seal meat is not a part of our tradition. Despite the massive subsidies invested by unwilling Canadian taxpayers for over three decades to promote seal fur and meat in China, significant markets have never emerged."

Lack of marketability and profit is what is currently being cited in a piece of proposed legislation called S-210 as reason for ending the Canadian seal hunting industry once and for all. The bill, introduced in the summer by senator Mac Harb, would, if passed, also provide compensatory work for hunters in the industry as it transitioned them into another career, thus stamping out industry representatives' argument that ending seal hunting would kill jobs.

Activists in China are also strongly supporting the bill.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, meanwhile, argued that the industry was recently losing more money than it was making, at the cost of taxpayers' dollars. They noted that around $7 million each year is fed into the industry, while only $1 million is actually made domestically during that time.

"Why are we wasting scarce resources lobbying foreign markets when the majority of people around the world have sent a clear message that the hunt is an outdated and unviable activity?" said Harb.

"Chinese consumers care about animal welfare and food safety, and we strongly oppose trade in products from commercial seal slaughters," Xiaona wrote. "Please be assured that China will never become a dumping ground for products that the rest of the world has so overtly rejected."

Photo: Activists in Alberta, Canada demand an end to seal hunting. Robert Thivierge/Flickr

Massive wind project approved for Wyoming

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Oct. 9 that his department had approved the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Project, a proposed wind farm in Wyoming that could generate as much as 3,000 megawatts of power for the state. Expected to be the largest-ever wind project in the U.S., it will create an estimated 1,000 jobs, and generate enough electricity to energize nearly one million homes.

The 1,000-turbine wind farm is one of seven clean energy projects that are part of President Obama's 'We Can't Wait' initiative (announced on August 7), and an integral part of his effort to expand American-based energy. That initiative, authorized by presidential executive order, is focused on developing environmentally sound infrastructure projects.

"When President Obama took office," said Salazar, "he made expanding production of American energy a priority, including making our nation a world leader in harnessing renewable energy. Tapping the vast renewable energy resources on our nation's public lands will create jobs while supporting a clean energy future."

Road- and groundwork on the project (which will cover an approximate 230,000 acres of land) is expected to begin early next year, after initial environmental and construction-related analysis this year, to be overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. Wind turbines will be put up over a three-year period starting in 2013.

"Wyoming has some of the best wind energy resources in the world," Salazar continued, "and there's no doubt that the project has the potential to be a landmark example for the nation. President Obama challenged us in his State of the Union address to authorize 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy on public lands by the end of the year - enough to meet the needs of more than three million people." And this project, Salazar confirmed, is the first step toward "making good on that [challenge]."

The wind facility will consist of the turbines, an internal haul road, an internal 230-kilovolt transmission line, and substations to connect the power to the electric grid. Prior to construction, however, steps will be taken to ensure the project is conscientious of the environment around it.

"The Bureau of Land Management is committed to responsibly developing renewable energy on our country's public lands," BLM acting director Mike Pool remarked. "That includes an extensive environmental review and making sure that we're mitigating the potential impacts of energy development on our wildlife and our lands."

In cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the BLM will design an Aviation Protection Plan and an Eagle Conservation Plan, both of which will focus on avoiding and minimizing impacts to birds and bats, which have been injured or killed by wind turbines in the past when poor planning was involved.

Steps to ensure worker safety ought to also be taken, experts feel.

Meanwhile, negative impacts to historic and Native American resources will be avoided due to collaborative efforts with five federally recognized tribes, with whom the involved government departments will continue to consult throughout the life of the project.

"Our strategy is getting us within the grasp of energy independence in the United States," Salazar explained. And, in addition, he added, "We know there are tens of thousands of jobs now being created by wind energy."

The continuing pursuit of wind energy is seen as extremely significant, and offers just one of many reasons for activists to get out and vote for Obama.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has, like his GOP peers, expressed anti-wind energy sentiments often, and last week confirmed his position to let the wind power tax credit expire at the end of the year, arguing that wind projects don't put enough money back into the economy to justify the expenses. But the jobs and local economic benefits that the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre project are expected to provide will directly contradict such a viewpoint.

Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, outlined the key difference between Obama and Romney on energy policy, noting, "President Obama wants to invest in energy efficiency and renewable power while protecting our health. Gov. Romney would bet our future on the fossil fuels of the past. This is a choice between responsibility and recklessness, and the choice is ours to make."

"Wind energy is important for our nation's economic health and security," said Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe, "as well as the health of our environment."

The facility and others like it, said BLM acting deputy director Neil Kornze, "are going to be landmarks in America. They are going to be what people think about when they think about the American West. And they are going to completely change the way that we think about energy production."

Photo: Talon Kasmai // CC 2.0

Bear rescue center faces risk of profit-driven shutdown

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:59:00 +0000

A bear rescue center run by Asian-focused (with a headquarters in Hong Kong) charity group Animals Asia faces an eviction from Tam Dao National Park in Vietnam. The center saves and offers shelter to bears abused in "farms" that painfully extract their bile for medicinal use. But all 104 animals will be left without a home when the sanctuary is shut down.

According to an Animals Asia press release, the organization was informed October 5 that the Ministry of Defense had issued an eviction order, after aggressive campaigning and lobbying for such by park director Do Dinh Tien. Animals Asia believes Tien intends to then hand the land over to the Truong Giang Tam Dao Joint Stock Company (his daughter has an investment in it) - a corporation that wants to build an "eco-tourism park" and hotels on the site.

Plans for private development are, in fact, already underway: The Truong Giang Tam Dao Joint Stock Company has been lobbying the Vietnam Administration of Forestry to get approval for real estate development.

The bears - having previously been rescued from torturous bear farms or illegal smuggling operations - would not be the only ones at risk from the eviction. Closure of the center would also leave the 77 Vietnamese workers there jobless, and essentially throw away about $2 million in donations that went toward the building and development of the sanctuary.

This news is a particularly discouraging blow, because it came weeks after a historic vote by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to gradually phase out bear farming in Asia, putting an end to a practice in which bears can be tortured for decades as they are pumped for bile. Even in the wake of such a victory, it will take a long time to completely defeat the bear bile industry, as well as many illegal operations taking place. That simple fact highlights the importance of places like Animal Asia's bear rescue center.

A shutdown of the center will also produce negative ripple effects: The $2 million loss will shake the local economy, which depends on the sanctuary. And Vietnam's commitment to ending bear farming, in accordance with the IUCN, will come under scrutiny.

Furthermore, the eviction is seen as a violation of an agreement between Animals Asia and the government in 2005, when funding was first provided to develop and maintain the facility, which was meant to permanently house rescued bears.

"We are desperate to ensure that the rescue center is not closed down and relocated," said Dr. Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of Animals Asia. "The welfare of 104 bears, who have already suffered enough, would be seriously compromised, and the rescue center and $2 million in donations would be lost. We're calling on the public, and the media, both in Vietnam and overseas, to urgently appeal to the Prime Minister of Vietnam for justice, and let him know their feelings on this terrible threat to the bears' welfare."

The bear bile industry alone is an ill-spirited, profit-driven business, and in no way takes animal welfare into consideration. After being kept in 'crush cages' and pumped for up to 30 years for bile through a hole in their body, the bears are often killed, and their parts are distributed to restaurants for consumption by the wealthy.

Unfortunately, and predictably, as Animals Asia observes, the bottom line behind this heartless attempt to close down the center is money.

"This is not a [Ministry of] Defense issue," said Tuan Bendixsen, Animals Asia's Vietnam director. "It's an issue of profit. We believe Mr. Tien seeks to benefit from land that the Prime Minister promised for bears that have suffered in Vietnam's bile trade for too long."

"This one man," Bendixsen concluded, "whose daughter stands to directly profit from the relocation of the center, should not be allowed this much power."

Photo: A rescued moon bear has found peace at the Vietnam bear rescue center, but now faces eviction from its own sanctuary. Image courtesy of Animals Asia

Activists call for end to polar bear killings

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Environmentalists, looking to help polar bears already affected by global warming, are pushing for an international ban on the legal trade in polar bear items, which threatens their already-dwindling population.

Climate change has caused Arctic sea ice to hit a record low, drastically disrupting the natural habitat of polar bears. But the animals are also vulnerable to killings, due to the international polar bear trade, which harvests the bears' furs and skins (hundreds of which are traded annually). The trade remains legal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). But activists with the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Humane Society International are hoping to change that.

These organizations, backed by the support of other nonprofit groups and activists, are calling for the animals' status to be changed from appendix two to appendix one under the Convention, which would designate it officially banned, stamping out the commercial trade of polar bear parts.

"We cannot sit on the sidelines and accept the extinction of these iconic and magnificent creatures," said IFAW D.C. office director Jeff Flocken. "The government should be doing everything it can to eliminate all threats to polar bears. The U.S. could help prevent the deaths of hundreds of polar bears killed needlessly for the commercial market."

"Polar bears are facing so many threats right now," added Roger Schlikeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife, "from global warming to poaching, trophy hunting, and commercial trade, that scientists say they could vanish from the U.S. by the middle of the century. We can't solve all of these threats right away, but we can eliminate the threat of commerical trade."

"Polar bears are becoming more and more scarce, and that scarcity is driving up demand," said the HSI's Teresa Telecky. "It's helping drive the species toward extinction."

According to HSI and the IFAW, an estimated 6,000 polar bears were killed for the purpose of the international trade between 2001 and 2010 alone. Even worse, the entire polar bear population worldwide is believed to number no more than 20,000.

The proposal to ban the polar bear trade has been submitted, and will be voted on during March 2013 in Thailand by 176 countries during the CITES conference.

But even if activists succeed in doing away with the horrible practice and the industry that feeds on it, the vanishing ice in the Arctic still presents a significant threat to polar bears, which are totally dependent on sea ice for hunting, reproducing, and moving around. That means that people still have environmental responsibilities to live up to.

Leading climate scientist Michael Mann, director of Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center, said, "We know Arctic sea ice is declining faster than models predict. They have typically predicted this would not happen for decades, but the measurements coming in tell us it is already happening. We are decades ahead of schedule."

Arctic foxes are also at risk from the ice shrinkage - something scientists observed back in 2008. The foxes rely on ice to avoid predators when the winter hits.

Scientist Nathan Pamperin at the department of biology and wildlife at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, noted, "With reduced access to sea ice, it is possible that, in the years when foxes would normally travel on the ice, they may face tougher conditions on land, and possibly lower survival."

The issue could also push foxes into human settlements, "increasing the potential for human-wildlife conflicts." That might present a problem similar to the urbanization of coyotes in cities in the U.S., which is caused by food and habitat depletion.

And the dilemma will affect people more directly, as well:

"Island nations that have considered the possibility of evacuation at some point may have to be contending those decisions within a matter of a decade or so," Mann remarked. "Thousands of years of culture are at risk of disappearing as the populations of vulnerable island states have no place to go.

"For these people, current sea levels are already representative of dangerous anthropogenic interference, because they will lose their world far before the rest of us suffer."

Photo: A polar bear skin seized from New Jersey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bill Butcher/USFWS & Flickr

Historic vote to end “bear farming”

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:05:00 +0000

In a historic move on September 15, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature voted at its World Congress in Jeju, South Korea to phase out bear farming, effectively ending the Asian bear bile industry - which causes the needless suffering of numerous bears each year and contributes to the decline of their population.

"The term 'farming' is a misleading one, as it implies that bears are being bred and that the trade may be sustainable," clarified Chris R. Shepherd, deputy director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, a wildlife trade monitoring organization. "This is absolutely not the case; bears [are being] sourced for the extraction of bile."

Bear bile, a digestive juice produced by the animals' livers, is used in many Asian medicines because it contains an acid believed to have several health benefits. But the process of extracting it involves the pointless torture of bears. Unfortunately, the industry has been thriving in China, South Korea, and Vietnam, despite strong disapproval from environmental and animal welfare advocates there.

But the IUCN's decision, activists declare, will finally put an end to this disturbing practice. "Bears suffer immense cruelty and pain as a result of being kept captive in bear bile industry conditions," said Chris Gee, external affairs manager at the World Society for the Protection of Animals. "The IUCN made the right decision, and millions of WSPA supporters and animal lovers around the world will welcome this exciting news."

"Bear farming" involves the capturing of Asiatic black bear cubs from the wild, where they are transported to facilities that involve placing them in "crush cages" - tight enclosures that render the animal entirely immobile. Living for a decade alone in such conditions typically results in extreme mental distress and muscle atrophy. But these bears can spend up to 30 years in these cages.

During that time, bears often have all their teeth and claws pulled, and are "milked" twice a day via a tube implanted in their abdomen. As the bile is extracted, the bears are believed to undergo excruciating pain, and have been observed chewing their paws open and moaning. After the bears stop producing bile, they are usually killed for their meat.

Witnesses on a bear farm in China observed a strong and troubling example of the torment the bears endure. As a worker punctured the stomach of a bear cub to pump it for bile, its mother heard its scream and broke out of its cage. The workers scattered as the mother bear hugged and eventually strangled the cub before running headfirst into a wall, killing herself.

Asiatic black bears (also called 'moon bears' for the iconic crescent shapes on their chests), have been found to be very intelligent, sociable, and vocal animals, and can be found in the wild everywhere from Iran to Japan. However, estimates show there are about 16,000 or less of them remaining, and the industry is believed to be very much to blame for their continuing decline.

The bile industry continues to stimulate senseless demand: bile has recently been used in products that offer no medicinal qualities, like cough drops, shampoo, and tea, in order to allow bear farmers to maximize their profits and utilize the surplus of bile at their disposal.

As far as medicine usage is concerned, there are herbal alternatives for bear bile, which are cheaper and more effective.

The IUCN World Conservation Congress is a massive event held every four years in which government leaders, business organizations, nonprofit organizations, and UN agencies gather to discuss management of the environment and wildlife in the interest of human, social, and economic development, including the need for good environmental governance.

The vote on bear farming will result in the closure of bear bile facilities across Asia.

In South Korea, environmental minister Yoo Young Sook will be expected to make an official announcement soon regarding the government's plan to phase out bear farms, as well as providing a timetable for the process.

"Taking action to phase out the bear bile industry," said Gee, "is essential to protect existing and future generations of bears from this completely unnecessary and cruel practice that is damaging to nature."

Photo: FreeTheBears.org