Victoria's Green Matters - 6th December 2010

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:The effects of climate change are rarely more obvious than in the home of the polar bear. There have been many reports of melting ice in the Arctic Circle, and scientists predict that if we continue to produce greenhouse gases at the present rate, two thirds of the world’s polar bear population will probably be gone in 40 years, if not sooner.

Recently, the Obama administration in the USA designated an area of 187,000 square miles of territory off the coast of Alaska as a protected area for polar bears. On the face of it, this seems like really good news but since the greatest threat to the polar bear is melting ice, giving them a protected area without taken action to limit carbon emissions seems to be nothing more than window dressing.

But there is a lot more at stake here. The designated area is sea ice and oil companies are keen to start drilling once the winter ice has lost its hold. The designation does not prevent drilling or other activities, just that applications will be subject to review. Oil companies are keen to stress that there will be no accidents like the spillage in the Gulf of Mexico and are more than willing to abide by stronger government regulations.

It will be interesting to see whether the corporate strength of the oil companies, waiting to start their explorations in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, will overcome any reluctance by the Obama administration to give permission to drill in this protected area. It would seem foolish in the extreme from a layman’s point of view to continue to look for oil in a world that is already burning too much fossil fuel for its energy needs.

It is not enough to hope that the polar bear wins out but it is up to us all to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels in favour of renewables