HR 5588 prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from offering for oil and gas leasing or any related activity any tract in the Lease Sale 193 Area of the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region until the Secretary determines whether to list the polar bear as a threatened species or an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

This is a big Global Warming trick.  The Polar Bear is not endangered and in fact is multiplying.  If they manage to get the Polar Bear on the endangered species list, they will get control over everything because they will be able to contend that anything and everything that they claim the people are doing will cause Global Warming and hence will effect the polar bear.  Since it will be on the endangered species list any activity they deem will cause Global Warming will be illegal.  

Control. control, control.  This Congress is moving socialist and we are sitting here watching it.  Neither of their two marxist  Presidential candidates have been elected yet, but if they are and the Congress stays the way it is or the D's have an even larger majority, we are doomed.  Hello UN.  Hello Global Socialism.  Hello to George Soros' socialist Open Society.

I can't believe I missed this one when you posted it.  Oh well, better late than never.

I think I've said it elsewhere, the Endangered Species Act is perhaps THE WORST piece of legislation to ever come out of Congress in more than 200 years of bad legislation.  

It is ABSOLUTE.  It proceeds from the idea that the damage caused by the loss of even one species is "immeasurable".  This has repeatedly been interpreted by the SCOTUS to mean that the value/worth of each and every species is infinite.  Furthermore, NO consideration of economic or social costs of protecting species may be taken into account.  

In other words, if protecting one species of snail required the TOTAL SHUTDOWN of ALL economic activity in the U.S., the Statute would mandate that we do just that.  There is no wiggle-room.

In the discussion of energy policy, why do you think we cannot build a hydroelectric plant (the cleanest form of massive amounts of renewable energy) in this country?  It's the ESA.  Anything can be stopped by the ESA.  Any type of development is vulnerable to the ESA if one species (or subspecies) of worm, snail, or fly can be found on the property.  And the environuts are constantly looking for new species with limited ranges that would allow them to stop development.  This is one hell of a weapon to leave in the hands of these Luddites.