WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2008
Palin Said Apt To "Cut, Kill, Dig, Drill"
McCain's Running Mate Has Had Frequent Run-Ins With Environmentalists, Especially In Alaska
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The polar bear is just one wildlife issue where Palin's administration is at odds with environmentalists and at times with the Bush administration and members of Congress. (Steve Romaine)
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Timeline Palin's Path A look at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's life and career
Months later she sued Kempthorne, arguing that the Bush administration didn't use the best science in concluding that without further protection, the polar bear faces eventual extinction because of disappearing sea ice as the result of global warming.
Palin, McCain's vice presidential running mate, has had frequent run-ins with environmentalists.
In her 20 months as governor, Palin has questioned the conclusions of federal marine scientists who say the Cook Inlet beluga whale needs protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.
She has defended Alaska's right to shoot down wolves from the air to boost caribou and moose herds for hunters, and - contrary to a view held by McCain - is not convinced that global warming is the result of human activity.
Environmentalists have nicknamed Palin the "killa from Wasilla," a reference to the small town where she formerly was mayor.
"Her philosophy from our perspective is cut, kill, dig and drill," said John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, maintaining she is "in the Stone Age of wildlife management and is very opposed to utilizing accepted science."
While acknowledging the climate is changing, Palin expresses doubt as to whether emissions from human activities are causing it. McCain, on the other hand, supports legislation to reduce heat-trapping pollutants, primarily from the burning of oil and coal.
"John McCain was all about global warming and the integrity of the science. The selection of Sarah Palin is a complete reversal from that position," said Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., who traveled to the South Pole with McCain in 2006 to visit with scientists studying climate change. "She is disturbingly part of the pattern of the Bush administration in their approach to science generally and the science of the environment in particular."
The McCain campaign Wednesday characterized Palin as a leader on climate change, noting she set up a sub-cabinet office to map out state response strategies and sought $1.1 million in federal funds to help communities threatened by coastal erosion and other effects.
Palin's administration relied in part on research from scientists funded by the oil industry to fight against the polar bear's listing, arguing that the impact of global warming on the bear 20 years from now can't be predicted. But e-mails obtained by a University of Alaska professor show that the state's marine mammal experts supported the federal government's conclusions on the bear.
Doug Vincent-Lang, Alaska's endangered species coordinator, said that while there were differences in opinion about the science, the state's position on the polar bear "was not a decision to protect resource development in the state."
Supporters say Palin, a self-described hockey mom who knows how to handle a gun and dress a moose and once worked as a commercial fisherman, is simply a reflection of her home state, where the extraction of oil, natural gas, gold, zinc, fish and other natural resources is the primary source of state income and jobs.
The polar bear isn't the only wildlife issue where Palin's administration is at odds with environmentalists and at times with the Bush administration and members of Congress.
For example:
Under Palin, the state Board of Game authorized for the first time in 20 years the shooting of wolves by state wildlife officials from helicopters. The order resulted in the controversial shooting this summer of 14 one-month-old wolf pups taken from dens on a remote peninsula 800 miles southwest of Anchorage - an act that environmentalists claim was illegal.
State officials characterized the killings as humanitarian, saying the pups would have suffered and eventually died without the care of their parents. Environmentalists argued they were killed to boost caribou populations to the benefit of hunters.
Like many other Alaska officials, Palin argues her critics don't understand the North Country.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who has complained Alaska is killing more wolves than necessary and has pushed a bill that would put additional restrictions on the aerial killing of predators, has been among Palin's targets.
Miller "doesn't understand rural Alaska, doesn't comprehend wildlife management in the North, and doesn't appreciate the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that gives states the right to manage their own affairs," Palin said in a press release a year ago.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Add a Comment See all 52 Comments
- "Copyrights are not eternal. They have a short run."
Hardly! Per "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States, 1 January 2008", Cornell University, the copyright duration for musical compositions is:
"70 years after death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation. 2049 at the earliest."
So the Repugnican appropriation of the song over the objections of its authors would very definitely seem to be a copyright violation.
No surprises here, folks. - Reply to this comment
- When Obama is elected messiah, one of his first miracles will be to change barracudas and all carnivores into peaceful loveable herbivores. The song will then be pointless.
- Reply to this comment
- Today the RNC was issued a cease and desist letter by Ann and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart for using their hit song ''''Barracuda'''' as the Republican convention''''s theme song WITHOUT asking for Heart''''s permission. Ever heard of intellectual property? Once again the GOP shows it has ZERO regard for this nation''''s laws.
Posted by rareben at 10:17 PM : Sep 05, 2008
Copyrights are not eternal. They have a short run, and if not renewed, the product can and does become public domain. - Reply to this comment
- to accept sience one should have at least basic knowledge, this Pit Bull does not have those,
meaning - if God did not bless enviroment ( where?) - she has a right to destroy the nature, wherever she steps. - Reply to this comment
- Today the RNC was issued a cease and desist letter by Ann and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart for using their hit song ''Barracuda'' as the Republican convention''s theme song WITHOUT asking for Heart''s permission. Ever heard of intellectual property? Once again the GOP shows it has ZERO regard for this nation''s laws.
- Reply to this comment
- It''s ironic how Palin constantly derides the ''Washington establishment'' that McCain himself practically founded.
- Reply to this comment
- ibzjem wrote "This woman wouldn''t know a science text book if it landed on her head."
Well, how ''bout this bibliography from the Palin Library of Science?
Geology: Genesis 1.1, God Himself and No Other. Holy Writ Press, Heaven. 1st ed. 4004 BC.
Math: "1 + 1 = 2 Billion. Revised Business Mathematics", Ken Lay. Enron Publishing, 2001.
Sociology: "The Flintstones as Reality", Hanna-Barbera, Channel 5.
Reproductive Health: "NO NO NO NO NO NO", Hester Prynne Books, Salem, MA, 1623
Wildlife Management: "Licence to Kill", J. Watt and Co.
Ecology: "If Evolution is Real, Why Aren''t Polar Bears Growing Gills?" by Ned Flanders, in Oil Driller''s Weekly.
Chemistry: "Combustion Temperatures of Degenerate Books", A. Hitler and J. Goebbels, AdlersNest Books GmBH, Munich, 1933. - Reply to this comment
- I must say that I had always considered Alaskans to be Independent and Libertarians until I lived there and found them to mostly be Republicans.
- Reply to this comment
- To usclimey: You appear to have serious anger problems. Take a hike, lighten up, and try again.
- Reply to this comment
- Screw the activitsts and the liberal fredom haters!
Posted by zgomer
I was going to say something but figured it wasn''t worth lowering myself to your level, dolt. - Reply to this comment
- Speaking of looks...has anyone notice the similarity of Look up my nose while I preach to you John Kerry...and Look up my nose while I preach to you Obama?
- Reply to this comment
- This just in: Oprah has refused to allow Sarah Palin on her show. Palin is just "not black enough". Details at drudge.
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Posted by VastR-WCon
Dredge is so renowned for being unbiased - I thought the little terd was dead anyway? I would imagine that Oprah doesn''t want the Wicked Witch of the North on her show because she doesn''t want to advertize the WWN''s radical agenda and give it the credence it would get from her show. - Reply to this comment
- They could have taken these wolves and re introduced them to Central Park in NYC. The Alaskas would be happy, the libs would be happy, and the number of cats and dogs in the Big Apple would be reduced.
- Reply to this comment
- Lets face it, we need to worry about saving the humans, not saving the wolves. We have something like 500% more polar bears today than we did in the 70''s... Look it up and then challenge it. Don''t drill, but allow kids to starve? Of course, you realize the price of oil has global repercussions and kids are dying TODAY because of it. Not in ten years, today. Build windmills, build nuclear powerplants, use natural gas, use clean coal, but do something today that will get us through. How many of you have spare cash to buy that new car in this economy? Get a reality check, folks!!
- Reply to this comment
- Hey Palin, You say you know how to dress a moose. Do you prefer to dress one in a dress or pant suit? Judging by your outfit, you stole the moose''s dress.
- Reply to this comment
- ... And despite all of this, and our economy and the jobs, and the global warming and the ozone holes, oh, sorry, those self-healed a few years back... Despite all of this, Hussein Obama is tied with the mummy and the mommy? I wonder what Mid America sees in him that the American Left doesn''t...
- Reply to this comment
- Even after her outstanding speech at the convention, the democrat misogynists continue attacking Palin like rabid dogs with the same savagery they used on Hillary. As before, they are being supported 100% by the liberal media, led by msnbc with their chief woman-hater and tax cheat, the deeply disturbed Oedipus olbermann.
The loony-left has criticized Palin''s hair, her clothes, her glasses, her shoes, her choice of college, her children, and her husband. This slimebag behavior shows that the loony-left has NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE to OFFER - just smears and hysterical mud-slinging.
The "God D@#! America (and Women)" crowd is as pathetic as it gets.
Since the loony-left likes to focus on the candidate''s children, let''s do a comparison:
While Palin''s eldest son is serving his country in the military, Plagiarist-Joe''s son Hunter is serving himself at the government feeding trough - with daddy''s help!- as one of the sleaziest lobbyists in Washington.
Yep, the apple doesn''t fall far from the tree.
This just in: Oprah has refused to allow Sarah Palin on her show. Palin is just "not black enough". Details at drudge.
/ - Reply to this comment
- From the above article, "Palin''s administration relied in part on research from scientists funded by the oil industry to fight against the polar bear''s listing, arguing that the impact of global warming on the bear 20 years from now can''t be predicted."
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Sound erily like the tabacco industries scientific research? - Reply to this comment
- What do conservatives conserve? Certainly not our environment.
- Reply to this comment
- No one should believe Alaska is full of conservationists - quite the opposite, Alaska has always been the target of exploitation, be it gold, timber, fish, big game, and now oil. The people there have become addicted to their yearly oil checks, which go to every man, woman and child in Alaska as payoffs from the oil industry. The people in Alaska tend to be self absorbed and resistant to rules, including laws. That''s why they hate the federal government and are almost all Republicans, they''re also nuts when it comes to religion, they have the most extreme churches you can imagine up there. This Palin woman is quite typical of the extremist head cases they have up there. Eight or nine kids is common up there, and everyone is running some kind of scam on the side. I know people are going to howl at this, but from what I''ve seen up there after several visits, its true.
- Reply to this comment
The road ahead in Afghanistan, and the crucial decision Obama faces.
