The Washington Post reports:

The Bush administration has decided to propose listing the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, putting the U.S. government on record as saying that global warming could drive one of the world’s most recognizable animals out of existence.

Well, global warming could do a lot of things if global warming ever becomes the threat that a lot of alarmists, like Al Gore, say that it will. So far, nothing to really be concerned about has happened. For those inclined to join the global warming hysteria, please understand that there have been dire warnings of calamitous climate change throughout recent history — and none of them have occurred. Jeff Jacoby sheds some light on this in a recent column on Townhall.com.

More from the WaPo:

Because scientists have concluded that carbon dioxide from power-plant and vehicle emissions is helping drive climate change worldwide, putting polar bears on the endangered species list raises the legal question of whether the government would be required to compel U.S. industries to curb their carbon dioxide output.

Scientists conclude a lot of things every day, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are right and it doesn’t necessarily mean that we should be concerned about it if they are right. A scientist at the University of Wisconsin has concluded that the US Government, not 19 radical Islamists, destroyed the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11/01. A scientist at Idaho State University has concluded that the legendary Sasquatch or ‘Bigfoot’ exists in the forests of the Northwest. I’m not saying that we should pay no attention to what scientists conclude; I’m saying that we should wait until we have real evidence of a serious problem, not just predictions from models, before taking drastic and expensive action.

Aside from all that, it is clear that the alarmists think they have come up with a way to force the government to slap restrictions on industries that produce carbon dioxide as a byproduct. I suspect that these people care more about restricting industry than they care about polar bears.

The WaPo reports that an Interior Department official said that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have concluded that polar bears could be endangered within 45 years. He didn’t say that they are endangered now. He didn’t say that they will be extinct in 45 years. He didn’t even say that they will be endangered within 45 years. Despite the fact that it is just a possibility that the polar bears will become endangered and despite the fact that it might take 45 years for them to become endangered, the government wants to list the polar bear as threatened now under the Endangered Species Act.

So what if the polar bears are at risk of becoming extinct? What have polar bears done for you? Yes, they are beautiful animals and their cubs are cute and cuddly (looking), but I don’t know of any real service that they perform for the world other than helping to control the seal population.

The environmental bureaucracies, and others, require us to prepare impact statements for all commercial development projects. So why don’t we require the government to show how the extinction of polar bears will impact the world to an extent that justifies the cost of preventing their extinction. It’s time for an end to the idea that all species should be saved regardless of the cost. Anyway, who are we to say that all species should stay around forever?

Update:  Steven Milloy has more on this at FoxNews.com.  From his article:

Let’s keep in mind that polar bears have survived much warmer times than we are now experiencing – like 1,000 years ago when the Vikings farmed Greenland during the Medieval Climate Optimum and 5,000-9,000 years ago during the period known as the Holocene Climate Optimum.