Report on Dead Polar Bears Gets a Biologist Suspended

[joeybee12]

Gee, are we sure we have an administration that cares about the environment...or cares about drilling? I suggest reading the whole article before you respond...pretty clear the guy is being railroaded by interests who want drilling to take place...pathetic.
_______________________________________________________________________

The federal government has suspended a wildlife biologist whose sightings of dead polar bears in Arctic waters became a rallying point for campaigners seeking to blunt the impact of global warming.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement notified the biologist, Charles Monnett, on July 18 that he had been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation into “integrity issues,” according to a copy of a letter posted online by the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Documents posted by the group indicate that the inquiry centers on a 2006 report that Dr. Monnett co-wrote on deaths among polar bears swimming in the Beaufort Sea.

Dr. Monnett and a co-author, Jeffrey Gleason, prepared the seven-page observational report for the peer-reviewed journal Polar Biology after spotting four dead polar bears during an aerial survey of bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea in 2004. As word of the sightings spread, images of drowned polar bears became a staple for activists who warned that global warming and the retreat of sea ice were threatening the bears’ survival.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/science/earth/29polar.html

[Autumn]

1. Not to worry. Those dead polar bears will disperse

just like the oil in the Gulf did. Drill Baby Drill.

[JackintheGreen]

6. Sort of: in German they're called "Eisbar" (with an umlaut)

and they'll just melt away. Like all problems, if we ignore them long enough.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. In a way, the suspension of the scientist is likely giving more publicity to this situation

than if they just buried the story.

[joeybee12]

5. I hope so...

Big Oil has this country by the cajones.

[Chimichurri]

8. Yes but it also muddies the waters, which is what was intended. The fake climage-gate email

has been debunked yet right wingers still use that fabricated controversy as a point of contention.

[muffin1]

3. Somehow, I don't think the tired old argument

about "Would you rather have Palin?" will work here.

K&R

[wtmusic]

4. Phone calls were made.

At least, at least...thanks to the lovely internets, some of these backfires bring even wider attention to a problem.

K&R

[WhiteTara]

7. Thank the bastard Ken Salazar

and lover of the drill.

[truebrit71]

12. The worst Sec of the Interior since James Watt...

..i STILL can't believe that Obama appointed that asshole...

[WhiteTara]

16. and I'm still reeling from Vilsack in Ag

what a disaster!

[G_j]

17. continuing the assault, just like the Bush admin..

Salazar is an ENEMY to the environment, not a friend!

[WhiteTara]

22. +1000 n/t

[CelticThunder]

9. The more things "change" the more they stay the same.

[lonestarnot]

10. Bastard idiots!

[WillyT]

11. :) ::::::

:cry: :cry: :cry:

:kick: & Rec!!!

[muffin1]

13. That is one of the saddest things I've ever seen.

:cry: , indeed.

[G_j]

18. agreed, utterly devastating..

:cry:

[Urban Prairie]

19. The last part of that melting ice floe that those polar bears are precariously perched on

has the shape of a polar bear with its mouth agape, roaring in bewilderment,,,


:scared: :cry: :grr:

[blindpig]

14. The Golden Rule....

those with the gold make the rules. That's Capitalism for ya. After the Gulf can there be any doubt?

[Historic NY]

15. Four bears in 04 have there been more? ....

its hard to get upset when this is a 7 yr old observation. I'd like to know if there is more current data. No necropsy, nothing further for all we know the bear could have been unsuccessful in hunting out the whales.

[Electric Monk]

20. Yeah, that's the ticket!

[Urban Prairie]

21. Yeah, sure is, out of sight, out of mind, huh?

Nothing to see here, move along please, less and less remaining Arctic sea ice every summer to very easily observe whats happening (or not) to the polar bear population, anyway.

[Autumn]

23. If you read the article there is a link in it

that leads to a complaint filed and in that PDF you will find out that there have been many more.