So, this morning my friend sent me a bit of propoganda from the “Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund”. The demonization of Sarah Palin has begun in earnest:
“A few hours ago, the news broke that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has
been selected by Sen. John McCain as the vice presidential candidate
for the Republican ticket.
As a Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund supporter, you are no doubt
aware of Governor Palin’s dismal record, from her staunch support for
special interests and Big Oil to her terrible assault on wolves and
other wildlife.”
Did Sarah Palin strap on a bandolier of ammo and go into the woods to “assault” wolves? geez talk about hyperbole..anyways..as I was saying…
Also, from their press release, the DWAF says:
“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum),
has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the
environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied
aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put
special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through
her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush
administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most
recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big
Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this
actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.
“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his
executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in
the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to
addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country
ends its dependency on oil.”
This put a fire in my craw…so here’s my rambling response (pre-coffee)
To: (name masked):
I think we can drill safely in the wildlife refuge. I also think that vis a vis the polar bear we need to come up with a trans-arctic policy in conjunction with our arctic neighbors. Simply listing the polar bear as a threatened species will only affect that population in Alaska. In the mean-time, competitive interests are busy exploiting newly revealed resources all around us up north. Also, the polar bear is demonstrably a sub-species of the grizzly bear, and has been know to interbreed with them.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/bear-hybrid-photo.htm
As for Palin, she is not the hobgoblin this propoganda makes her out to be. Palin, in fact, fought oil companies and their undue influence in Alaska politics (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080829/NEWS15/80829045). And as for the fact that her husband works on a production rig for British Petroleum? Does that create a conflict of interest for her? Well, that’s like saying that if her teenage son worked for McDonalds flipping burgers that she’d be in the pocket of the beef industry. Its’ a non-sequitir.
Let’s not attack the person but the idea. We need alternative energy sources for sure. Go to T. Boone Pickens’ website and sign up to support real solutions. In the short term, though, we need oil and we need to produce as much domestically as we can. If this means minimal impact drilling in the arctic then so be it. It’s completely possible with current technology to drill and not kill. The footprint of a drilling rig can be limited to under an acre, and the drilling rig can “enclose” the necessary water and mud (in Texas you’ll see retention ponds at a drilling rig) in tanks. Closer to the ocean they use barges.
Personally, I’m an active defender of our natural resources. I frequently write to my Congressman to support legislation that protects our remaining wild places or limits damage from developement, etc. I donate every year to some select organizations that do the same. I walk out into the woods at least once a month and work with a crew to remove trash from the Appalachian trail. However, I’m a realist. I think there is greater danger to our environment from the wreckless use and destruction of lands under the control of the Bureau of Land Management than there is from the danger of drilling in ANWR. I think the threat that exists to selling-off our National Forests and developing them is far more insidious that trying to grab some oil from ANWR and then moving on as Oil demand ebbs and alternative energy use increases.
I think all these people playing Chicken Llittle with their e-mails that try to villainize political candidates (Republican or Democrat) need to step away from their computer and go plant a friggin’ tree. Then go pick up some trash. Then buy a water filter and stop buying bottled water.
There is no grand conspiracy.
George Bush is not the anti-christ.
Obama is not the christ returned.
The forces that drive our society exist as a matter of inertia, like a great leviathan on which we ride, no one person has the reins. Don’t believe claims to the contrary.
Jeff.