Palin views on oil, polar bears may be liabilities

[texas grass]

Palin views on oil, polar bears may be liabilities

By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Democrats are probably cobbling together the campaign ad right now: "John McCain's running mate is for big oil and against the environment," a somber voice intones as cute baby polar bears scamper across the screen.
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If McCain hoped to stop Democrats from getting much mileage out of the oil issue in this presidential election, he picked the wrong vice presidential candidate.

His choice, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, comes from a state whose lifeblood is oil. Palin favors opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development, something McCain opposes. Her family even gets one of its paychecks from the oil industry: Palin's husband, Todd Palin, earned $46,790 last year as a facility operator for BP Alaska in Prudhoe Bay.

Oil and natural gas and the jobs they create are part and parcel of life in Alaska: "If you are not for opening ANWR, in the state of Alaska, you couldn't get elected dogcatcher," says former Alaska state Rep. Ray Metcalfe, a Republican-turned-Democrat who supports Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and anticipates Palin's critics will probably zero in on the oil drilling issue.

But that live-off-the-land culture is largely foreign to voters in the lower 48, who are paying high gas prices without the benefit of the oil royalty dividend checks that Alaskans get each year. Eligible Alaskans received $1,654 each in 2007.

Palin is so pro-energy that she actually praised Obama earlier this month for calling on the United States to work with the Canadian government to build an Alaska natural gas pipeline.

"I am pleased to see Sen. Obama acknowledge the huge potential Alaska's natural gas reserves represent in terms of clean energy and sound jobs," Palin said in a press release put out by her office, though she wasn't entirely in favor of Obama's energy plan. She questioned his proposal to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies to provide a taxpayer rebate, saying such taxes prevent oil companies from investing more in domestic production.

Democrats could also accuse Palin of picking on polar bears.

Palin opposes the Bush administration's decision to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Alaska sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne earlier this month to try to overturn his decision.

Palin argues there isn't enough evidence to support a listing, and she fears it will harm oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off Alaska's northern and northwestern coasts.

Ethics could be another issue. Palin has fashioned herself a good-government maverick in the style of McCain, but Democrats could go after her on that, too.

The Legislature is investigating her firing of the state public safety commissioner. A legislative oversight committee wants to know if the commissioner was dismissed because he refused to fire a trooper who went through a messy divorce from Palin's sister. The investigation is expected to wrap up around election time.

Campaign contributions Palin collected earlier in her political career could also provide fodder for Democratic campaign ads, tying her to an Alaska Republican political scandal from which she has tried to distance herself.

Palin raised at least $4,500 for her unsuccessful 2002 campaign for lieutenant governor from executives of VECO Corp., an oil services contractor at the heart of a massive influence-peddling investigation. Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens is accused of accepting more than $250,000 in home renovations and gifts from VECO executives and failing to disclose them on his annual financial statements; the senator says he is innocent.

Palin received $500 each from nine VECO executives in December 2001, including then-CEO Bill Allen, who last year pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy, bribery and tax charges and agreed to cooperate in the corruption investigation.

___

Associated Press writers Steve Quinn in Anchorage and Matt Apuzzo in Washington contributed to this report. AP researcher David Goodfriend in Washington also contributed.

[khronik]

To be fair, polar bears probably shouldn't be on the threatened species list. Habitat destruction isn't much of a problem for polar bears, since people generally don't like to live where polar bears do. Anyway, their place on that list has to do with speculation about global warming and not much else. Really, the polar bears are fine.

[Bong30]

To be fair, polar bears probably shouldn't be on the threatened species list. Habitat destruction isn't much of a problem for polar bears, since people generally don't like to live where polar bears do. Anyway, their place on that list has to do with speculation about global warming and not much else. Really, the polar bears are fine.

There is Hope

Right on Point Khron.......:thumbsup:

Libs want the polar bear listed to make my buy stupid light bulbs made by GE.


Nobama wants to tell me where to keep my thermostat...

If I want my House at 72 all year and I pay My bill.. Get out of My Life NOBAMA.

[RobPA]

Palin views on oil, polar bears may be liabilities

By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Democrats are probably cobbling together the campaign ad right now: "John McCain's running mate is for big oil and against the environment," a somber voice intones as cute baby polar bears scamper across the screen.
ADVERTISEMENT

If McCain hoped to stop Democrats from getting much mileage out of the oil issue in this presidential election, he picked the wrong vice presidential candidate.

His choice, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, comes from a state whose lifeblood is oil. Palin favors opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development, something McCain opposes. Her family even gets one of its paychecks from the oil industry: Palin's husband, Todd Palin, earned $46,790 last year as a facility operator for BP Alaska in Prudhoe Bay.

Oil and natural gas and the jobs they create are part and parcel of life in Alaska: "If you are not for opening ANWR, in the state of Alaska, you couldn't get elected dogcatcher," says former Alaska state Rep. Ray Metcalfe, a Republican-turned-Democrat who supports Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and anticipates Palin's critics will probably zero in on the oil drilling issue.

But that live-off-the-land culture is largely foreign to voters in the lower 48, who are paying high gas prices without the benefit of the oil royalty dividend checks that Alaskans get each year. Eligible Alaskans received $1,654 each in 2007.

Palin is so pro-energy that she actually praised Obama earlier this month for calling on the United States to work with the Canadian government to build an Alaska natural gas pipeline.

"I am pleased to see Sen. Obama acknowledge the huge potential Alaska's natural gas reserves represent in terms of clean energy and sound jobs," Palin said in a press release put out by her office, though she wasn't entirely in favor of Obama's energy plan. She questioned his proposal to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies to provide a taxpayer rebate, saying such taxes prevent oil companies from investing more in domestic production.

Democrats could also accuse Palin of picking on polar bears.

Palin opposes the Bush administration's decision to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Alaska sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne earlier this month to try to overturn his decision.

Palin argues there isn't enough evidence to support a listing, and she fears it will harm oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off Alaska's northern and northwestern coasts.

Ethics could be another issue. Palin has fashioned herself a good-government maverick in the style of McCain, but Democrats could go after her on that, too.

The Legislature is investigating her firing of the state public safety commissioner. A legislative oversight committee wants to know if the commissioner was dismissed because he refused to fire a trooper who went through a messy divorce from Palin's sister. The investigation is expected to wrap up around election time.

Campaign contributions Palin collected earlier in her political career could also provide fodder for Democratic campaign ads, tying her to an Alaska Republican political scandal from which she has tried to distance herself.

Palin raised at least $4,500 for her unsuccessful 2002 campaign for lieutenant governor from executives of VECO Corp., an oil services contractor at the heart of a massive influence-peddling investigation. Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens is accused of accepting more than $250,000 in home renovations and gifts from VECO executives and failing to disclose them on his annual financial statements; the senator says he is innocent.

Palin received $500 each from nine VECO executives in December 2001, including then-CEO Bill Allen, who last year pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy, bribery and tax charges and agreed to cooperate in the corruption investigation.

___

Associated Press writers Steve Quinn in Anchorage and Matt Apuzzo in Washington contributed to this report. AP researcher David Goodfriend in Washington also contributed.


By STEVE QUINN and CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writers
1 hour, 16 minutes ago



JUNEAU, Alaska - In two short years, Sarah Palin moved from small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers to the governor's office and now â?? making history â?? to John McCain's side as the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket.

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She has more experience catching fish than dealing with foreign policy or national affairs.

Talk about a rocketing ascent.

In turning to her, McCain picked an independent figure in his own mold, one who has taken on Alaska's powerful oil industry and, at age 44, is three years younger than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and a generation younger than McCain, 72.

Palin's selection was a jaw-dropper, as McCain passed over many other better known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months. "Holy cow," said her father, Chuck Heath, who got word something was up while driving to his remote hunting camp.

Palin had been in the running-mate field but as a distinct long shot.

She brings a strong anti-abortion stance to the ticket and opposes gay marriage â?? constitutionally banned in Alaska before her time â?? but exercised a veto that essentially granted benefits to gay state employees and their partners.

"She stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down." McCain said in introducing her to an Ohio rally. "She's exactly who I need."

Said Palin: "I didn't get into government to do the safe and easy things. A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship is built."

Democrats seized on the gaping experience gap and said McCain now has no business questioning the seasoning of their nominee.

Palin lives in Wasilla, a town of 6,500 about 30 miles north of Anchorage, with her husband, Todd, a blue-collar North Slope oil worker who won the 2007 Iron Dog, a 1,900-mile snowmobile race. He is part Yup'ik Eskimo. The two have spent summers fishing commercially for salmon, an enterprise that once left her with broken fingers aboard their boat.

These days, she's typically seen walking the Capitol halls in black or red power suits while reading text messages on Blackberry screens in each hand. She often reads and dexterously types responses without upsetting her stride, but she'll stop to greet tourists touring the Capitol.

She came into office preaching reform at a time when a federal corruption investigation shadowed a number of Alaska's Republican elected officials. To rid the Capitol of the appearance of undue influence, she kept lobbyists out of her office.

After two years in office, her popularity remains high; she has 80 percent approval ratings.

But Palin's clean-hands reputation has recently come into question. A legislative panel is investigating whether she dismissed Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper. Trooper Mike Wooten went through a messy divorce from Palin's sister.

The governor denied orchestrating the dozens of telephone calls made by her husband and members of her administration to Wooten's bosses. She says she welcomes the investigation: "Hold me accountable."

Even before McCain picked her, people outside Alaska were beginning to notice the young governor with the bright smile â?? runnerup in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest â?? whose good looks spawned a bumper sticker that read: "Coldest State. Hottest Governor." Last December, she posed for the fashion magazine Vogue but turned down their effort to put her in runway attire.

"At first they had me in a bunch of furs," she said of the photo shoot. "Yeah, I have furs on my wall, but I don't wear furs. I had to show them my bunny boots and my North Face clothing."

She did the photo shoot while just a few months pregnant, which Vogue and the public did not know.

What she knew and others didn't at the time was that her son, Trig, would be born with Down syndrome. There was never a doubt that she and Todd would have the child, she told the AP earlier this year in describing what she and her husband has confronted.

"We've both been very vocal about being pro life," Palin said. "We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential."

Still, Palin waited a few days before telling her husband who was out of town. Once Todd returned and heard the prognosis, he told his wife: "We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'"

Trig Paxson Van Palin (an homage to the rock band Van Halen) was born in April. With Trig in tow, Palin returned to work a few days later, for a meeting of her energy team.

Her handling of this experience, her opposition to abortion, even her leadership of her high school chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes all could help McCain's standing with social conservatives who have been skeptical of him.

Palin is "a woman of faith who has a strong position on life, a consistent opinion on judges," said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law and founder of the legal group Liberty Counsel, who has sought to coalesce evangelicals around McCain. "This will absolutely energize McCain's campaign and energize conservatives."

Alaska's first female governor arrived at the Capitol in 2006 on an ethics reform platform after defeating two former governors in the primary and general elections.

In the primary, Palin defeated incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski, who also had 22 years of experience in the U.S. Senate.

Her task didn't seem any easier in the general election, but she handily beat Tony Knowles, a popular Democrat who had served two earlier terms as governor.

During her first year in office, Palin moved away from the powerful old guard of the state Republican Party and has refused to kowtow to the powerful oil industry, instead presiding over a tax increase on oil company profits that now has the state's treasury swelling.

But she is a proponent of petroleum development, in tune with McCain, although the two disagree on drilling in Alaska's protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She favors drilling there; he opposes it.

The governor also opposed designating polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, fearing that step would get in the way of a proposed natural gas pipeline tapping the North Slope's vast reserves.

Before becoming governor, her political experience consisted of terms as Wasilla's mayor and councilwoman and a stint as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

Her parents Chuck and Sally were trying to reach the abandoned gold mine that serves as their hunting camp when their son-in-law called them Thursday to tell them to tune in to the radio when they got there. A flooded creek turned them around for home.

"I should have put two and two together," her dad said. "I'd rather go moose hunting than be involved with politics."

But if she's down-home, she's also politically savvy.

"Sarah Palin for her entire political career has been underestimated," said Paulette Simpson of the Alaska Federation of Republican Women. "She's tough, she's tenacious. I believe that she does have what it takes to get out there. Again, her ability to connect with voters and make a case is very, very, very strong."

Palin's confrontations with the state GOP began when Murkowski named her chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. There, Palin exposed current Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich, who was also on the commission, for ethical violations.

In 2005, Palin co-filed an ethics complaint against Murkowski's longtime aide and then attorney general, Gregg Renkes, for having a financial interest in a company that stood to gain from an international trade deal he was helping craft.

The Palins' five children are Track, 19; Bristol 17; Willow 14; Piper, 7, and baby Trig.

Track enlisted in the Army in 2007 on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and has been assigned to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.

Palin was born Feb. 11, 1964, in Idaho, but her parents moved to Alaska shortly after her birth to teach. She received a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.

___

Calvin Woodward reported from Washington.


This is another Add from the AP Press. A little Conflicted one being a known liberal AP press Writer (Sharon Theimer). This is a conflicting report stating she has TAKEN ON the oil industries.

[khronik]

There is Hope

Right on Point Khron.......:thumbsup:

Libs want the polar bear listed to make my buy stupid light bulbs made by GE.


Nobama wants to tell me where to keep my thermostat...

If I want my House at 72 all year and I pay My bill.. Get out of My Life NOBAMA.
You should probably buy those light bulbs anyway. They last a lot longer and pay for themselves in electricity costs.

If you're using a wood stove, then no problem. But if you're using fossil fuels, well, eventually we'll run out of them. It's not a matter of if, but when. And when that happens, we REALLY need to be able to adjust to using less of them. Granted, nuclear power is always an option, but last I checked we can't run our cars on it.

[dragonrider]

Palin has a very bad environmental record.

She opposes listing polar bears as threatened. Contrary to what others have said in this thread, polar bears ARE losing habitat due to human activity --- the human activity that is contributing to global warming. Her reason for opposing the listing is that she is worried that listing polar bears as threatened will interfere with new oil field and pipeline development, and offshore drilling. So clearly she is worried that these activities DO affect polar bear habitat and will be limited if that habitiat must be protected.

She opposed a ballot initiative to prohibit metal producing companies from dumping polluted wastewater into rivers that serve as salmon habitat.

She supports drilling in ANWAR, which is something even McCain does not support. She supports offshore drilling, which is something McCain has recently flip-flopped to support.

She denies human activities contribute to global warming, which is another area of disagreement between her and McCain. Her own state will be one of the first to suffer from global warming and is already losing whole villages as they sink into the mud when the permafrost thaws.

[Breukelen advocaat]

McCain's choice of Palin is a huge disappointment to me. I do not think that Obama is experienced enough, and the alternative is an older man who may die while in office, leaving the job of president to someone that believes in creationism - and who has other positions, many of which are listed in this thread, that are just wrong. I'm afraid that he has made a very bad decision.

[khronik]

Palin has a very bad environmental record.

She opposes listing polar bears as threatened. Contrary to what others have said in this thread, polar bears ARE losing habitat due to human activity --- the human activity that is contributing to global warming. Her reason for opposing the listing is that she is worried that listing polar bears as threatened will interfere with new oil field and pipeline development, and offshore drilling. So clearly she is worried that these activities DO affect polar bear habitat and will be limited if that habitat must be protected.
True, polar bears are losing habitat as the arctic ice recedes, but the species still has a huge undeveloped range. They typically inhabit the areas where the ice melts in the summer, so as the ice sheets recede, the bears would just go with it. Assuming that the polar ice caps don't melt entirely, polar bears will still have plenty of habitat. Other species like mountain gorillas and rhinoceroses have a lot more to worry about.

Now, I'm all for protecting the environment, but listing a species as threatened because of speculation over what might happen if certain events occur the way part of the scientific community thinks they will in hundreds of years, just seems a little disingenuous.

[dragonrider]

Has anyone seen any kind of interview at all with her since she was announced on Friday?

Today is five days after they announce she is going to be the VP candidate, and there hasn't been one interview yet. That seems wierd. No one knows who she is, but they haven't had a single interview.

[thcbongman]

Has anyone seen any kind of interview at all with her since she was announced on Friday?

Today is five days after they announce she is going to be the VP candidate, and there hasn't been one interview yet. That seems wierd. No one knows who she is, but they haven't had a single interview.

Pretty obvious why. If she did have an interview, she'd be torn apart. No one expected McCain to pick her, she's was a choice made in haste. They are articles that state that no one in the vet process interviewed any state or local Alaskan officials. I see her as a desperation pick by McCain to grab women voters. At the time I thought she was an excellent pick because it made the race very interesting and showed McCain isn't afraid to make a bold move. However his team is very unprepared for the onslaught of the media and it seems like McCain was executing decisions in the same way GWB did, make bold moves while being unprepared for them. In this sense, if McCain prepared for this more, she's a good pick.

[dragonrider]

Pretty obvious why. If she did have an interview, she'd be torn apart. No one expected McCain to pick her, she's was a choice made in haste. They are articles that state that no one in the vet process interviewed any state or local Alaskan officials. I see her as a desperation pick by McCain to grab women voters. At the time I thought she was an excellent pick because it made the race very interesting and showed McCain isn't afraid to make a bold move. However his team is very unprepared for the onslaught of the media and it seems like McCain was executing decisions in the same way GWB did, make bold moves while being unprepared for them. In this sense, if McCain prepared for this more, she's a good pick.

McCain was selected as the Republican candidate, when? February? He's had 6 months to work on this VP decision --- the very first presidential decisiosn he has ever had to make and sure to be scrutinized. It sounds like he did pick her in haste at the very end, but why? He's had forever to decide, but he waited until the very last instant and made a bonehead gamble of a pick. I do not like that decision-making process. Is that how he would make decisions as president? Wait until the very end and then make a desperate gamble? Forget that. The flip side to "bold" and "maverick" is "foolhardy." It's a good thing we got to see this example of McCain's judgment well before the election.

[khronik]

McCain was selected as the Republican candidate, when? February? He's had 6 months to work on this VP decision --- the very first presidential decisiosn he has ever had to make and sure to be scrutinized. It sounds like he did pick her in haste at the very end, but why? He's had forever to decide, but he waited until the very last instant and made a bonehead gamble of a pick. I do not like that decision-making process. Is that how he would make decisions as president? Wait until the very end and then make a desperate gamble? Forget that. The flip side to "bold" and "maverick" is "foolhardy." It's a good thing we got to see this example of McCain's judgment well before the election.
In all likelihood, McCain waited until Obama picked his VP before making any final decision. Probably a bad move on his part, since it looks like he's basing his entire campaign on just beating Obama and not on any specific platform. Maybe McCain expected Obama to pick Hillary Clinton or Kathleen Sebelius, and then decided to nominate a woman when he didn't?

[McDanger]

Has anyone seen any kind of interview at all with her since she was announced on Friday?

Today is five days after they announce she is going to be the VP candidate, and there hasn't been one interview yet. That seems wierd. No one knows who she is, but they haven't had a single interview.

There was one from ? Bartolomo from CNBC I think, whatever the business channel is. The reporter was on one of the sunday shows talking about it. It may not have aired yet. I don't have cable so I don't get those channels.

[thcbongman]

McCain was selected as the Republican candidate, when? February? He's had 6 months to work on this VP decision --- the very first presidential decisiosn he has ever had to make and sure to be scrutinized. It sounds like he did pick her in haste at the very end, but why? He's had forever to decide, but he waited until the very last instant and made a bonehead gamble of a pick. I do not like that decision-making process. Is that how he would make decisions as president? Wait until the very end and then make a desperate gamble? Forget that. The flip side to "bold" and "maverick" is "foolhardy." It's a good thing we got to see this example of McCain's judgment well before the election.

I'll have to agree with you that it perhaps wasn't the best decision from a risk standpoint and I too question his judgement, he seems to be in it for the win more than his beliefs. However, the gamble could very well pay off. You shouldn't underestimate the sexism in this race, there many woman voters who'll switch. She also checks out with the born-again christian base. It solidifies 2 large blocs of voters. We'll see come November, but Obama used far more judgement and reason in his choice than McCain did. That doesn't get you as many votes tho, it's the buzz baby!

[dragonrider]

There was one from ? Bartolomo from CNBC I think, whatever the business channel is. The reporter was on one of the sunday shows talking about it. It may not have aired yet. I don't have cable so I don't get those channels.

I've seen clips of old interviews on various networks, but nothing since she was selected 6 days ago. I do not think there are any new interviews. She's probably in a bunker learning what she is supposed to say.

Here's what you say when they ask about the economy.
Here's what you say when they ask about national security.
Here's what you say when they ask about global warming.
Here's what you say when they ask about the war.
Here's what you say when they ask about gay marriage.
Here's what you say when they ask about teen pregnancy.
Here's what you say when they ask about abortion.
Here's what you say when they ask about the foreclosure debacle.
Here's what you say when they ask about drilling in ANWAR.
Here's what you say when they ask about renewable energy.
Here's what you say when they ask about torture.
Here's what you say when they ask about moose stew --- or if you like, you can improvise on that one.