For all the hysteria about global warming, there really is no proof that human beings are making a significant contribution to climate change -- or that it is anything more than a normal cyclical process that is utterly beyond human control. But that didn't stop the Bush Administration from declaring polar bears to be endangered by global warming -- despite the fact that the population of polar bears is on the rise, and may be reaching record highs. That is one reason why the lawsuit filed by Alaska Gov. Sarha Palin is a good thing.

But there is an additional reason why this designation is dangerous -- the near limitless authority that the Environmental Protection act will now give the EPA -- and unelected federal judges -- over economic activity.

The act, for one, requires the department to ensure that "all actions authorized, funded or carried out" by all federal agencies aren't likely to "result in the . . . adverse modification of habitat" of listed species.

This was odious enough when the presence of a few worthless snail darters was sufficient to derail massive public-works projects.

But because polar bears are now imperiled by global warming (officially, anyway), any carbon emissions anywhere in the country could conceivably be judged an illegal threat to their habitat.

And far-left green outfits like the Center for Biological Diversity - the group that led the charge to get the polar bear listed in the first place - are already licking their lips at the prospect.

So be aware -- restrictions upon your lifestyle and economic well-being may becoming, even if there has not been a polar bear in your neighborhood since the last ice age (and even if the glaciers never reached your neck of the woods) on the theory that YOU may do the polar bears harm via carbon emissions in Illinois, Virginia, or New Mexico. The speculative harms done to the polar bears will be deemed to outweigh the actual harms done to you and your children in their name.

Posted by: Greg at 10:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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