MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

The polar bear’s plight has been elevated from one of the decade’s biggest media stories on the state of our environment to bona fide cultural phenomenon, as evidenced by the bear’s ubiquitous presence on magazine covers, as well as in comedy skits, political satire, and editorial cartoons. The propulsion of the polar bear onto the world stage drew more than a little thrust from the Center’s petition and lawsuit to gain Endangered Species Act protection for the polar bear — followed by the administration’s proposal to list it as a threatened species. Editorials across the country hailed the proposal as a political landmark: the first acknowledgement from within the Bush administration, the Los Angeles Times noted, “that global warming is the driving force behind an animal’s potential extinction.” We’ve made a massive media campaign one strong arm of our work to save the polar bear and its Arctic habitat; our efforts helped generate more than 1,000 print stories on the proposed listing, more than 250 editorials and opinion pieces, and as many television and radio spots. And with that media attention has come increasing political pressure on the Bush administration, and other elected officials, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

June 9, 2008 – “The Race for Survival,” Newsweek

May 25, 2008 – “E-mail reveals state dispute over polar bear listing,” Anchorage Daily News

May 20, 2008 – “Groups seek greenhouse pas protection for polar bears,” San Diego Union Tribune

May 15, 2008 – “Polar Bear Is Named 'Threatened,'” Washington Post

May 14, 2008 – “Listing disappoints state political, industry leaders,” Anchorage Daily News

December 29, 2007 – “Terror of the north on the brink,” Globe and Mail

September 21, 2007 – “Record sea ice melt this summer larger than Texas and Alaska,” San Francisco Chronicle

September 17, 2007 – “Is the Polar Bear Global Warming’s Canary in a Coalmine?,” Emagazine.com

September 10, 2007 – “Most Polar Bears Gone by 2050, Studies Say,” National Geographic News

February 22, 2007 – “Starving polar bears shame Bush to act,” News Independent

January 10, 2007 – “Act now to save the polar bears,” Baltimore Sun

January 4, 2007 – “Saving the polar bears,” San Diego Tribune

December 26, 2006 – “Protect the polar bear,” San Francisco Chronicle

February 17, 2005 – “Endangered Status Sought for Polar Bears,” Los Angeles Times

Search our newsroom for more polar bear media