Even though they are now a protected species George Bush gives permission to injure them in pursuit of oil.

Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations this week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska if "small numbers" of polar bears or Pacific walruses are incidentally harmed by their activities over the next five years.

Environmentalists said the new regulations give oil companies a blank check to harass the polar bear.

About 2,000 of the 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic live in and around the Chukchi Sea, where the government in February auctioned off oil leases to ConocoPhillips Co., Shell Oil Co. and five other companies for $2.6 billion. Over objections from environmentalists and members of Congress, the sale occurred before the bear was classified as threatened in May.

Polar bears are naturally curious creatures and sensitive to changes in their environment. Vibrations, noises, unusual scents and the presence of industrial equipment can disrupt their quest for prey and their efforts to raise their young in snow dens.

So in the eyes of the Bush administration, the oil companies, and the Republicans it is perfectly reasonable to cause harm to these magnificent creatures in the desperate search for an energy source which we as a country want to move away from.

I am ashamed of my states support of this plan and their attempts to argue against the plan to put these regal animals on the endangered species list.

The future of our countries energy needs is not buried in the ice of Chukchi sea, it is in developing an inexpensive, plentiful, and environmentally safe alternative that we can utilize without the guilt of damaging our planet and its inhabitants.