So this is how our country works...?

The DC leg of the trip was short but interesting. By coincidence, the Department of Interior decided to announce their polar bear decision on the only day that I would be in town. NRDC has been active in the push to get polar bears listed as an endangered species, but nobody was sure what the decision would be: we had heard rumors that the petition would be denied, but also that it would be a determination of threatened...

So, to help the DC media crew I wandered over to DoI and slipped into the auditorium with one of our talkers to check out the show. The first words out of Secretary Kempthorne's mouth confirmed that the decision was to be a threatened designation for the bears---something I shot back to the office in an email so we could get the press materials together quickly.

It was interesting to watch the press response to the Secretary's statements. At first, they seemed to accept this as a big win for environmentalists...but quickly they seemed to grasp the large loopholes that the administration had put in place. Far more time was spent talking about oil in the Chukchi Sea than the bears themselves.

And then the real show started.

Greenpeace and another group brought folks in polar bear costumes. And needless to say, the race was on as everyone started trolling for cameras. We did well with some high profile TV and radio interviews on the Department of Interior steps. I walked away puffed up thinking it was pretty amazing that a random guy, just off the plane, could help to affect the news cycle and national dialogue on a matter of note... Then, I got kind of bummed that a random guy, just off the plane, could help to affect the news cycle and national dialogue on a matter of note... What a sham...