Legal Commentary

Chron: Sacrifice the local economy for the polar bears

By Tom Kirkendall

Given the editorial slant of the Houston Chronicle over the past several years, it's not particularly surprising that the editors ran this editorial calling for polar bears to be declared an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Unfortunately, it's also not surprising that the Chron editorial failed to mention that the oil and gas business -- a key source of jobs and wealth for Houston and the nation -- is likely to suffer considerable financial damage as a result of the polar bear listing push, which Hugh Hewitt notes "is not only an abuse of the ESA's original intent but also unsupported by the facts concerning the ice and the polar bears."

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on May 05, 2008 (boomark / email).