I have included this page to again provide evidence of the extent of our savagery upon the animals kingdom, and not to solicit donations. JBS

CENTER for BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Polar bears are dying because of global warming.
The Bush administration is dragging its feet.
Tell your Senators you want action now!

Dear Friend,

How do you kill a polar bear? It's as easy as 1-2-3.

One, you become President of the U.S. and let your friends in industry pillage the environment. Two, you scoff at evidence that global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels. Three, you turn a blind eye as the planet heats up, glaciers melt, and polar bears starve or drown because they can't get to their food supply.

These beautiful creatures are on a path toward extinction because your federal  government is not doing enough to combat global warming. But it's not too late to take action. The Center for Biological Diversity is fighting back, and we need you with us. Let me explain our plan to save the polar bears.

The Center and other groups filed a lawsuit to protect the polar bear under the  Endangered Species Act. It's a winning strategy: the Center has protected more plants and animals under the Act than any other environmental group in the country. And this time, because listing under the Act means protection of habitat, we can save a species and force the administration to focus on global warming, a double victory for the planet.

Because of our action, Bush's Interior Department is considering listing the polar bear as "threatened." It's a step below "endangered," but it offers significant protections under the Endangered Species Act if, and only if, they follow through.

Given the administration's head-in-the-sand approach to global warming, the proposed listing of the polar bear, if it is finalized, will be a watershed event. Yet, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne refuses to admit global warming's role in melting the ice floes on which the polar bear depends. That's a baffling stance. If they don't address global  warming, they can't save polar bears no matter how they are listed!

That's why we need your help today. The Bush Administration and its right-wing allies in Congress will not take global warming seriously until they see that voters like you take it seriously. And getting them to make the connection between greenhouse gases, which cause warming, and the melting Arctic ice will be even more of a challenge.

This is your chance to speak up. As we press forward with our campaign to protect polar bears and reduce threats to their habitat, you can help the Center in two ways:

1. Sign and return the enclosed petitions to your U.S. Senators. Writing to the White House won't make a difference. But the Senate has new leadership and is finally starting to demand accountability from the Bush administration on a number of fronts. With pressure from people like you, global warming will be high on that list.

2. And, when you send in your petitions, I urge you to support the Center for Biological Diversity with a generous gift. You will help strengthen one of the most effective grassroots environmental groups in America, as well as our actions to save the polar bears and save their Arctic habitat.

In a moment, I'll tell you more about our compelling case for the polar bears — a case that has, for the very first time, connected the dots between the dangerous impact of global warming and the endangerment of species. But first, let me show you why signing the petitions and joining the Center is the best way for you to make a difference.

Seventeen years of success protecting wildlife and wilderness

The Center for Biological Diversity has an impressive track record of victories spurred on by the kind of citizen action and public pressure that your petitions symbolize.

Our first notable victory was winning protection for the Mexican spotted owl. Since then, we've protected more than 350 endangered plants and animals and 43 million acres of critical habitat. We win because we back our arguments with solid research and legal savvy — and because we're supported by a rapidly growing membership.

Member action can be pivotal. For example, petitions from thousands of Center members to former Interior Secretary Gale Norton helped us protect New Mexico's Zuni Salt Lake. And activism by Center members helped us defeat the Renzi Amendment, a rider on a Defense Authorization Bill that would have devastated Arizona's San Pedro River — one of the continent's most important wildlife and migratory bird corridors. You can find

more member-backed victories on our Web site: www.BiologicalDiversity.org."`

The Center's members and friends not only take action, they also send generous gifts to help us fight for protection of endangered species. In one of our biggest campaigns ever, we are pursuing protection for 283 plants and animals on the endangered species waiting list. These vulnerable species — like the Sonoyta mud turtle, now reduced to a single U.S. population — are still only "candidates" for protection. Such respected scientists as Jane Goodall have joined us in this campaign.

One of the most effective ways you can help us help all endangered species is to  lend us the power of your name. That's why I urge you to send your petitions in today. Putting pressure on your Senators will give them the courage to put pressure on the White House to get serious about global warming.

While you are doing your part for the polar bears, we'll be doing ours — in court. Member support gives the Center the power to defend the wild through the legal system, where we have a history of success. Let me give you an example:

Holding the feds' feet to the fossil fuel fire — a major victory for the Center

America loves cars, and nobody loves them more than the federal government, which owns some 600,000 vehicles — more than any other purchaser in the nation. That means they burn a lot of fossil fuel, spewing greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

After the first Gulf War, in a lucid moment, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act,which required 75% of federally owned cars and light trucks to be powered by alternative fuels by 1999. Signed into law by George Bush Sr., the Act was designed to replace 30% of all oil used for transportation in the U.S. with alternative fuels by 2010.

If fully implemented, the law would have reduced air pollution, greenhouse gases and U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and proved that we can meet energy needs without drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other cherished wilderness areas.

Small problem: three successive presidential administrations ignored the law. But they can't ignore it any longer. The Center filed a lawsuit and won a stunning victory in the name of fuel efficiency: the judge forced every federal agency to report on the number of alt-fuel vehicles purchased and gas guzzlers retired. And it wasn't pretty.

As a result of the Center's vigilance, four federal agencies — the Departments of Commerce, Labor and Transportation, and the Veterans Administration — admitted to  violating the law and agreed to bring their vehicle purchases into compliance.

We're staying on the case to make sure this administration brings every federal agency into compliance with the law — which will be a sea change in the feds' approach toward global warming and will help stem the tide of global warming. And we'll continue to use our skills in court for polar bears.

The case for the polar bears: global warming is destroying their habitat

Polar bears are marine mammals that rely upon sea ice for essential behaviors, including mating, maternity denning, and feeding — primarily on ringed seals, another ice-dependent species. The bears live within five nations: the U.S., Canada, Norway, Denmark (Greenland) and Russia. But the U.S., the world's largest contributor of the heattrapping pollution that causes global warming, is the only one ignoring the issue.

The fact is that the Arctic is warming more rapidly than any place on the globe. Temperatures in parts of Alaska rose more than 5°F in the past century and may rise 18°F or more in the next. A team of scientists recently announced that the Arctic sea ice cap shrank by 500,000 square miles in 2005, compared to averages from 1979 to 2000. That's equivalent to the state of Colorado sinking out of sight.

Hungry bears in Hudson Bay, Canada now spend an extra month on shore because sea ice breaks up earlier. It's no wonder their population has declined 22% since 1987.

And it's not just polar bears that are in peril. The Center is also working on projects to save wildlife from Emperor Penguins in Antarctica to coral reefs in the Carribean, as well as the Kittlitz's murrelet and other species whose decline can be directly tied to global warming. We can't do this important work without you!

The Bush administration: AWOL on global warming

The administration's response to global warming is appalling. Breaking their promise to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and withdrawing from the widely accepted Kyoto Protocol, was — excuse the expression — just the tip of the iceberg. They also:

•        Fail to comply with the Global Research Change Act, which requires a regular assessment of climate change from the White House.

•        Brought a former lobbyist for Big Oil onto the White House staff to edit government reports on climate change in a way that cast doubt on the role of pollution.

•        Fail to comply with the 1992 Energy Policy Act.

•        Did not respond to a formal request by the Center and others to list the polar bear as threatened, leaving us no choice but to sue the federal government in court.

If we can get the polar bear officially protected under the Endangered Species Act, then the Bush administration will be forced to come to terms with global warming. Why? Because the Act requires protection of habitat so endangered species can recover, and in the polar bear's case, the U.S. would be required to address threats to its habitat including the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

The administration has up to one year to make a final decision on the proposal to protect the polar bear. That is why your support of the Center now is so important. We need to stay on the case, generate thousands of comments in support of protection and continue to marshal the best available scientific information, which the administration cannot ignore.

I'm sure you understand the importance of this campaign. If our nation's leaders do not get their heads out of the sand when it comes to global warming, all our other efforts to save plants and animals — and ourselves — will be for naught.

That's why I urge you to take two vital actions for the polar bears today:

1. Sign the petitions to tell your Senators it's time for action on global warming.

2. Join the Center with the largest gift you can make.

Our track record proves that public pressure really works. Please join us today to save America's vanishing species and the wild places they need to survive. Thank you.

Michael Finkelstein Executive Director

P.S. Polar bears wait out the summer on land, living on stored fat until they can return to the ice, where they can eat again. But global warming is melting that ice, and many polar bears are dying. To save the bears, we must curb global warming — and protecting them under the Endangered Species Act is a major part in doing it. Please take a stand with us."

 WE COULD NOT INCLUDE THE PETITIONS
  PERHAPS THEY CAN BE OBTAINED FROM:

  P.O. Box 710        Tucson, Arizona 85702   520-623-5252        www.biologicaldiversity.org