Sierra Club RAW

Issue #201
March 8, 2007
Bush Admin 'Shut-up Points' on Global Warming and Polar Bear
Josh Dorner, RAW Contributor

First the Bush administration tried to undermine the science behind global warming. Then it decided that its strategy for not dealing with the problem would be to talk up a laundry list of voluntary measures and potentially useful but non-existent technologies, all the while continuing to steadfastly oppose any mandatory reductions in U.S. global warming emissions. Now it appears they've decided to adopt a perverse version of the Thumper rule -- if you can’t say something nice about global warming, then you’re not allowed to say anything at all.

A memo sent to staffers in the Alaskan division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and subsequently leaked to the New York Times this week states that staff members are not allowed to speak to the media about polar bears, sea ice, and global warming unless they are explicitly authorized to do so. The memo comes as global warming has become a white hot issue, with the plight of the polar bear arousing particularly strong public attention—prompting several hearings on the potential listing of the polar bear as an endangered species.

(You can click here to join with the Sierra Club and tell Interior Secretary Kempthorne to save the polar bear.)

This latest "Soviet-style" missive, to quote the person who supplied the memo to the Times, comes after years of similar attempts to stifle dissent within the administration. Most famously, the administration tried last year to censor preeminent climate scientist Dr. James Hansen. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently held a hearing that exposed further efforts to silence scientists.

The Bush administration: if you can't beat 'em, try and shut 'em up.

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