SAVE THE POLAR BEARS!!!!

Dear Sherrie,

Two weeks ago I wrote to tell you about a truly alarming situation - a delay in the decision to include the polar bear on the Endangered Species list - and asked you to take action.

Over 52,000 people signed our petition on behalf of the polar bear and sent a powerful message to the Bush Administration: We will not sit back and wait until the ice sheets melt and the last polar bear drowns before we address the devastating impact of global warming.

I wish I could tell you that our work is done, but the polar bear is still not listed and next week the Bush Administration will begin selling off oil exploration leases in Alaska’s Beaumont and Chukchi Seas - prime polar bear habitat, where an estimated one-tenth of the world’s polar bears live.

There is simply no time to lose and that’s why we need your support today. The last thing this animal needs is another threat to its survival. Because there is no proven method for cleaning up oil in the Arctic’s broken sea ice, an oil spill in this area would be catastrophic for polar bears.

Polar bears would be listed today but powerful special interests are fighting the decision at every step. That’s why we are asking you to donate today and send a message to the Administration that if they are serious about protecting the polar bear it’s time to include the polar bear on the Endangered Species List -now!

The polar bear has never needed that protection more than it does today. At a time when Arctic sea ice is melting at an alarming rate - so much faster than scientists predicted - the Interior Department should make safeguarding America’s polar bears a top priority. We need to make sure the polar bear is listed, and keep the pressure on the Administration and Congress to protect critical habitat from destructive oil drilling by putting America on the path to a clean energy future.

Please donate today and help save the polar bear before it’s too late.

Sincerely,


Greg Haegele
Director of Conservation

P.S. If we don’t act now to combat global warming, America’s polar bears could be gone in our lifetime. Please support the Sierra Club’s work to curb global warming, protect our wildlife and wildlands and keep our air and water clean.

Sierra Club
85 Second Street, 2nd Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94105
membership.services@sierraclub.org
(415) 977-5653
http://www.sierraclub.org/