If the polar bears were to be put on the endangered species list, the Bush administration would probably be forced to abandon its quest to sell off the Chukchi Sea.

The results would be: one, polar bears will be able to thrive in that area and thus reduce the likelihood of their ultimate extinction; and two, a few corporate CEOs will sadly have to go without some ridiculous profits.

The U.S. Geological Survey has forecasted that two-thirds of the world's polar bears will "disappear" by 2050, and by 2080 only a small population will remain in the Arctic archipelago of Canada -- they will be completely gone from Greenland and Alaska.

More troubling is that this forecast was conducted assuming that global warming does not accelerate and continues at a moderate pace.

According to a study in polar biology, "Observations of mortality associated with extended open-water swimming by polar bears in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea," polar bear numbers have been declining due to the accelerated rate of ice melting as a result of global warming.

This means the bears may have to swim long distances to find food -- and many drown in the process.

The Bush administration's actions reveal its deep contempt for democracy and American citizens. According to a Gallup poll conducted in March 2007, 69 percent of Americans said they "personally worry" either a "great deal" or a "fair amount" about the "extinction of plant and animal species." Sixty-six percent said that the environmental movement has either "definitely" or "probably" done "more good than harm."

In a Harris Poll report, 53 percent of Americans said there was "too little" "government regulation and involvement in the area of environmental protection" and 81 percent proclaimed "the United States needs to set the lead when it comes to controlling greenhouse gases and pollution," rejecting the Bush administration policy of "voluntary" (meaning, not setting) targets for reducing CO2 emissions.

These poll results show that the reactionary statists in the White House care more about lining the pockets of rich contributors and friends rather than the citizens of the U.S. In addition, Bush and his cronies are condemning future generations to an environmental wasteland, devoid of the beauty of the life.

Those who argue for the exploitation of our natural lands, as Bush and his advocates do, say that we can have both development and the protection of nature.

This is an outright lie. The history of so-called "development" around the world is one of environmental devastation -- and if we extend that to human affairs, one of massive income inequality, lack of sovereignty for third world nations, destruction of indigenous cultures -- all designed to make the rich richer.

Environmental problems are huge -- global warming, pollution, landfills, the ozone layer, endangered species, acid rain, and, right nearby, mountaintop removal -- but all of them are interconnected and have common solutions. Everyone knows the solutions -- they just have to be implemented.

But, right now, a fight is underway to bring the Bush administration to court over the listing of the polar bear on the endangered species list. The deadline for the administration to decide on whether to list the polar bear was Jan. 9 (the same day that it was announced the Chukchi Sea was up for sale), in an obvious cynical attempt to advance the interests of private tyrannies, corporations.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace have initiated a legal campaign to sue the Bush administration for missing the deadline, in order to force a decision.

And in Congress, Ed Markey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, has introduced a bill that would delay the sale of land in Alaska for oil exploration until the Bush administration makes a final decision on the listing of the polar bear on the Endangered Species List.

You can help by urging your representative in Congress to support the bill -- go to www.nrdconline.org/campaign/Put_Polar_Bears_First_nsb.

It is quite probable that if we continue on our current path, our planet will ultimately become unsustainable and we will have destroyed ourselves, in addition to polar bears and other majestic lifeforms on the only known planet in the universe to have a higher intelligence.

Apologists for big business will say that their effects on nature "haven't been proven" -- which, of course, they have been proven, as far as one can prove anything in science.

It's time to ignore these "skeptics" and act before it's too late to save our planet -- and ourselves.

• Letter: Celebrate the holidays however you see fit
• Local GOP cleaning house, aiming high
• ACC weekend preview: Four conference battles elsewhere