As Governor, Sarah Palin has successfully maintained Alaska’s energy independence, but at the same time, she has essentially ignored the mainland’s energy concerns.
Time Magazine reports that as Governor, Palin supported the direct export of enough clean natural gas to supply 1.4 million Americans for two years.
In early 2007, an Alaskan liquefied natural gas plant owned by Marathon Oil and ConocoPhillips requested Department of Energy permission to export some of the fuel. Palin entered the discussion in April, but only to ensure that Alaska’s natural gas needs would be included in the deal.
>>More on energy independence at RG&B
An agreement was reached in January this year, and never once did Palin suggest that the natural gas should instead be used in the lower 48 states. Instead, 100 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas will be exported from Alaska’s Cook Inlet to Japan and other Asian countries, where the fuel sells for double what it does in America.
But this is business as usual for Alaskan natural gas: the West Coast did not have a facility to store liquefied natural gas until May 2007 when a nearly-$1 billion plant was completed along the Baja coast of Mexico. The plant is connected to the CNG pipelines that run throughout the western United States.
The project was well-known and anticipated by the energy industry, but Palin—“one of the foremost experts in this nation on energy issues”—never considered the plant as a possible destination for Alaska’s gas.
The idea that Palin is an energy expert was laughable already, but this decision showed a brash disregard for American energy independence, a cause which she champions nearly every day on the campaign trail.
Photo Credit: Bobster1985 on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
Super, so as governor of Alaska she should have represented the lower 48 states as well? Well gee, why don't we just blame her for not fighting in WW2.
As a side note, guess what. Most coastal states like Washington, Oregon, and California are currently embroiled in debates over whether or not to allow expansion of LNG. Oregon's been trying to increase LNG use for a while, but it keeps getting blocked by idiot activists.
Perhaps Palin just decided that it was better to insure the energy security of a state that wasn't going to turn down viable energy options. Maybe she didn't want the whole deal hinging on a few states that may or may not have gone with the plan.
But hey, any governor who would put a suntan bed in the governor's mansion MUST be a lunatic. I mean, it's not like Alaska doesn't see sunlight for 6 months out of the year…
I agree she does some weird stuff, but I'm tired of websites posting shit they know nothing about and criticizing her for it.
Just Tat for tit, Teract, chillout.
What energy independence would mean to me is that that we produce as much energy as we consume. If exporting some of it, and then importing from other sources, is a more efficient means of getting energy from producer to consumer, or a more profitable one, then that's fine with me. The point is, if we produce as much as we consume, we don't create upward pressure on world energy prices, and we can always switch delivery methods if unstable energy exporting countries try to yank us around on price or embargo their output.
We're so far from this goal it's ridiculous to focus on this particular contract.
Or maybe Teract, and I am just going out on a limb here, she made the decision based solely on greed.
Or maybe she is just that unethical, immoral and just plain stupid.
I think McCain would have a better shot if Tina Fey would finish the campaign as Sarah Palin. Although Tina Fey can't see that thar Russia out of her back window when she wakes up in the morning.
Have you looked into why Oregon blocked the LNG or are you just another Republican idiot that finds one line in a story that justifies your position and uses it? Just asking.
Good night and good luck
How about the fact that she was the governer of the State of Alaska. And conducting energy business for her state. and now that she is running for the Vice President of the United States of America her job if she is elected will be to look after the energy interests for all 50 states now instead of just Alaska.
I suppose the same could be said for any state that allows the export of anything (food, natural resources or manufactured products). By particpating in the free enterprise system and being a capitalist a company can make a profit and benefit everyone. By chosing to make Alaska a strong leader and supplier of gas and oil, Palin sets an example that most states should take a look at.
And maybe, just maybe, as governor of HER State she was more concerned with HER STATE rather than the rest of the country. I would want my Governor to focus on my STATE rather than being concerned with 49 other……..or wait is is 56 other……shit I get so confused.
Teract – No one said that she was a bad governor because she put Alaska's interests first. However, one would think that the self proclaimed expert on energy independence would have considered the impact. When you consider that she claims Alaska produces what was it, 70% of the nation's energy, it looks like she sold off some of that national energy.
For the record, I was born in Alaska, my brother lives there now. At no time in our family has anyone ever considered getting a tanning bed because of the lack of sunlight. That's the kind of frivolous spending that Sarah Palin claims she's against.
Also for the record, there are plenty of other reasons to keep Sarah Palin as far away from ony real power as possible. Her lack of foresight in this instance is really just icing on the cake.
Why don't you morons worry about the fact that Obama is a Muslim sympathizer at best, and most probably a closet Muslim at worst. Do you really think that we need a Muslim sympathizer in the White House? Isn't the media responsible enough to read the books he has written on his own life? The comments he has made about "not trusting the white man" should be an indicator of where he stands in the area of equal rights. This country deserves everything that happens to it if the people of this nation put that man in the White House. Get off of Sarah Palin's case and start investigating Barak HUSSEIN Obama. What is wrong with you people? You make me sick.
Super, so as governor of Alaska she should have represented the lower 48 states as well?
Comment: Is she going to represent JUST ALASKA or the whole country as VP?
Perhaps Palin just decided that it was better to insure the energy security of a state that wasn’t going to turn down viable energy options. Maybe she didn’t want the whole deal hinging on a few states that may or may not have gone with the plan.
Comment: Maybe she just does have the experience to switch froma state of 500,000 people to VP of the countyr of 230,000 PLUS!
Maybe she doesn't know how the Politics of the nation worksd and compromise and respect for the weishes of US lunatics in CaLifornians who would represent a G 9 industrailized nation if the secceded from the UNION..GOD FORBID they should hjave any clue with theior zero emission onjectives! DOes Plain Pain Palin have a clue!
I agree she does some weird stuff, but I’m tired of websites posting shit they know nothing about and criticizing her for it.
Comment: I'd say that the only websites posting shit is this one for posting yours!
I'm tired of people being tired of the media showing how much of a bad choice she is. Get over the media, if she wasn't so scary there would be no story. Every candidate scares the hell out of me, but I know a moron when I see one. Dan Quayle where are you? ….Oh yea last time I checked he wasn't a female either.
Obama would've had this election if he chose Hilary as his running mate.
teract, you must mean yourself with regards to posting shit YOU know nothing about.
The issue Teract is that instead of supplying the lower 48 states with that natural gas thus selling it to states here (and making less money for the sake of the country she loves so much) she instead sold it overseas for more money which only benefitted Alaska. That's fine for Alaska, but not fine for me here in Ohio and its not the kind of separatist-like judgment that I want in my next vice-president, especially if the president has 1 foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. Palin does more than weird stuff. She is a liar. The things she is saying in her speeches is incredible. I actually went to see her live here in Ohio and she is actually more scarier in person than on TV. I am glad most Americans are now seeing her for what she really is. Thanks McCain for picking her. Now, the ONLY way you will win this election is by stealing it like Bush did the last 2 times, because you can't win fair and square with a bimbo like her on your ticket.
Fuck you Teract!!! Time Mag is just showing how she does one thing and says another. You stupid Fuck. You're an Idiot.
well she's the one who claims that she has all the answeres. So she just needs to shut up about things she don't know about. So I guess she still thinks that she;s knowledegable by association. Dah Ooh come Joe say it aint so
McCain blew it with me when he chose this woman. She has made the McCain ticket laughable and there is already one joke in the white house. Sorry McCain but you lost my vote.
Palin's only interest is Palin.
The killa from wasilla – cut, kill and drill – her only shortsighted goals.
Well, Teract, maybe if she didn't have such a questionable track record to begin with maybe we wouldn't have to speculate. Maybe if the woman would do just one interview in which she didn't look and sound like a complete bimbo we wouldn't have to question her. But the fact is she is a bimbo, at the same time she is calculated and knows exactly what she is doing. Like it or not, ALASKA SUPPLIES OIL TO THE REST OF THE US its called the ALASKAN OIL PIPELINE that goes down the west coast, you know that pipeline right? So yes she does have to worry about our energy needs in the lower 48 as governor oookee? So I do question her on the little things because the little things about her are actually big things because she is trying to be Vee Pee okee?
I think these websites are posting the truth about her and you want to be blind to the fact that she shouldn't be a VP candidate, nor she should be a governor of Alaska. She doesn't really have any brains, and McCain really messed up by choosing a woman he met once, 2 years ago. It's ashame really. She is a hateful woman that would want to run our Country like communism. She wants censorship- she wanted to take out certain books in the Alaskan Library because she didn't approve the books??? What kind of thinking is that? Disgusting really….
I have no intention of supporting anyone running with an 'R' following their name this year for multiple reasons, but Palin was possibly the worst thing McCain could have donein his quest for the White House/2008. Wanting those female votes became much too important to him, and I don't believe Palin to be able to deliver on that front at this point. Even us 'small minded' females can measure competency and integrity …and I'm seeing less of each as time goes by. Good luck Obama…..
When did this Palin lady get her education in Energy Manaagement, Economics, Busines, World Affairs? You can only be an expert in a subject if you have studied and researched what it is you want to become an expert on. What papers has she written regarding any subject related to energy?
Palin just pushed through a new 30 billion dollar natural gas pipeline through Canada to supply the lower 48 with natural gas.
Did you not know this, or is this info not relevant because this is just a political hit piece meant to help Obama win the election?
Either way this article is dishonest.
Please promise me that when this election is over we will never have to see or hear from Sarah failin' Palin again
The problem that I have with Gov. Palin, more than the presumption that she knows God's will, feels that its great her teenage daughter is pregnant with an illegitimate child, or that it's OK to drill anywhere fuel deposits are, is that she keeps trying to sell the same old "snake oil" when it comes to fuel options. LNG and crude oil are NON-renewable fuel sources, regardless of the perceived short term benefits, those fuel sources, once they are depleted, are gone for good. Now, if her plan is to use up all fossil fuels that Alaska has then her plans are good, but if the OVERALL fuel plans for the nation are to reduce the emissions from fossil fuels and to find renewable sources of fuel, then what she is doing is simply selling the same old snake oil in a new package. If someone were to measure the amount of crude and NG that Alaska has and weighs it against what the energy needs in the nation are, then you would learn very quickly that we would use up what Alaska has in less than a year. so what is the point to drill the ANAWR, the Chucki Sea, the Bearing Sea and more of the North Slope just to burn up all the fuel in less than a year. Plus, she fails to mention that the facilities to drill, tap, extract and ship the fuel from these locations doesn't currently exist and would need to be constructed, which means that fuel wouldn't be in the US fuel supply chain for at least 3 to 5 years. That's how long you'd have to wait for the plants to be constructed, rail lines laid, extraction to begin and then shipment out of Alaska. anyway, that is what my biggest problem with her is, she has no concept of infrastructure construction or maintenance, environmental stewardship, or the concept of renewable fuel and resources. Those are my two cents.
So, you want Alaska to support the LNG depot in Baja MEXICO (it's in mexico because activists didnt want it in California–too unsightly and would block the beautiful California coastline–puullleeeasseeee!!!) So to support California's natural gas you expect Alaska to export it to Mexico (probably with tarrifs in place) where they will export the gas to homes and business in California and other western states 9probably with more tarrifs in place to get it back into the U.S.)–but hey! We are at least helping the Mexican economy. I say screw California! If that's the way they want it-Find their own damn energy then! Nothing I want or need in the crappy liberal gay loving state anyway.
She did exactly the right thing for her state and got double the price for her state instead of less with more bull from California and Mexico.
Hey – why not this election do something different. Why not vote independent or even write someone in. Neither party has done anything for anyone but themselves and their cronies for years. While the news keeps brainwashing you into thinking that you waste your vote if you don't vote Republican or Democrat. They are all in bed with someone and they are all run by someone. Now we have to bail out Wall Street so some 29 year old can still drive is Ferreri. Sad that you people keep voting the same two parties and complaining but never go off into different territory and explore the possibilities.
Teract, As governor of Alaska Palin does not have the obligation to represent the lower 48 states, But as an American and a representative of the American Government she does have an obligation to the best interests of this country, not just her state.
Get off of your soap box.
I remember a time when we were supported our leaders so much better than now. They would have to do something very blatantly and directly offensive to us to not have our respect. We were grateful for the privilege of paying attention to our jobs while they take the time represent us in government.
What does this mean?
The project was well-known and anticipated by the energy industry, but Palin<!–[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]–><!–[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]–>—“one of the foremost experts in this nation on energy issues”<!–[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]–><!–[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]–>—never considered the plant as a possible destination for Alaska’s gas.
Sharon,
What Palin does in the race for the White House is not a true indicator of the type of person she or any of the candidate are. Of course she is going to push something like this through now, it good PR. The truth behind a candidate is what they did before and after the race.
Yeah, and an eye for an eye will leave us all blind. This is why I'm so sick of the media. Almost any action or inaction is subject to be taken out of context and distorted. For me, it has the opposite effect. When someone is stretching so hard to find a criticism that they have to make crap up, it smacks of desperation and dishonesty. Did you hear Mccain defend Obama as a "good family man" when some lunatic called him an Arab? Even his supporters booed him. That's the kind of change I think we need.
So in other words, Sarah never once suggested that the gas be sold for HALF AS MUCH?
The idea that Alex Felsinger is a real journalist isn't even laughable.
Your comment is crude and reflects the mentality that put Palin in office and got her selcted as McCain's running mate.
I suppose you believe that her unelected , no appointed to any special commission, not a consultant, non govenrment employee husband was right in accessing state government personnel files and calling meetings of the governor's staff, using her office to hold meeting s and genreally making himself the lt. governor while trying to vindacte his family's alleged fears about someone who worked for the state.
Oh yes, try writing and talking without using cursing. You'll find that it's habit forming.
Hi Sharon, a couple of notes:
1. The pipeline will cost A LOT more than 30 billion
2. The pipeline was not Palin's idea. Many before her have tried and… (continue to point 3)
3 …..Until she was Governor, Palin apposed the international pipeline. She wanted to keep the pipeline inside Alaska entirely. She and Todd popularized the phrase "Canada my ass, it's Alaska's gas." Where is that foreign policy experience I keep hearing so much about?
4. The pipeline is likely to never be built. It is costly and financing has not been secured. Neither has the right to use much of land where the pipeline will be built.
5. The fact that she is trying to do something many others have already tried -and failed- shows only that she lacks creativity in coming up with new solutions.
6. The fact that she is touting this "accomplishment" on the campaign trail appalling. Nothing has been accomplished and it wasn't her idea to begin with anyway. Not only was it not her idea, but it was a bad idea that she went along and ahead with because she seems to be unable to come up with any good new ideas. It just sounds good on the campaign trail, that's all.
I agree with Teract, it's an awful shame that the people we depend on the most in this Country to get the news from post nothing other than trash. With all the trash that the media writes about her, she should be a hero for rising above it all. Go Palin.
The financial Crisis at moment is no one elses fault but the homeowners who failed to pay their morgages and no one is blaming them. I have no doubt that those people are the exact ones pointing the finger.
I agree with Teract. These claims make it sound like she can do magic — and that she should have. It's not that simple. Give her a break!
I know it is politics as usual but the negatives that are desperately rounded up against Sarah Palin are miniscule compared to the baggage that Obama brings to the scene. Bush must be so hated by the left and disliked by the conservative right I think that any warm body would be highly regarded by the left and gullible voters.
It is not new that politician says anything to win. In the case Sarah Palin, she goes around the country talking about Obama policies and he don't have enough experiences. Someone should question Palin policies. Oh…if you do question her policies…Palin want give you the correct answer anyway….Ummm…She will wink at you instead and say you got me this time.
Teract,
Governor Palin is only being criticized in this article because she has made energy independence "for the country" one of her main talking points. I don't know that this particular finding was the smoking gun the author hoped for, however. This was just big business. Selling energy to foreign countries doesn't ensure energy security. It makes money for your state/ constituents, plain and simple. She could have sold the energy to some of the lower 48, just at half the cost (the thrust of the article).
I didn't know that governor Palin added a suntan bed to the mansion. I DO know that, if she did, it had everything to do with vanity and nothing to do with not seeing sunlight. Only the most northern parts of Alaska (i.e. Barrow) don't see the sun for extended periods of time. Even there it's only for two months not six. They also have two months where they have no night.
I'm tired of people posting stuff they know nothing about in an attempt to blindly defend there candidate of choice from criticism. Read a book or two before you put your thoughts out there for the world to see.
"Congress Ignored Chance to Promote US Energy Independence" is a more valid headline since the outer continental shelf contains abundant natural gas resources. Oh thats right, their afraid of oil slicks.
Rocky Mountain States would be another major producing region of natural gas, and its a lot closer to Baja, but we can't really go after that either.
But its Palin that ignores the chance to promote US energy independece. Riiight. Palins job was to promote Alaska, not the US. Congress is suppose to be promoting the US.
Yahoo, a fluffer for news organizations.
Regardless of any fully intelligent reason, I highly doubt any of these reports are changing the constituents of these political wrecks.
So none of the candidates are perfect, now what? Taking purely superficial things into account, McCain will never win, no matter how hot the woman is by his side. Palin is another Quayle, but with a much more annoying voice.
Then there's Obama. At first his family really annoyed the crap out of me, but his tactics are more long-term. He's probably going to screw some things up, but like nothing compared to McCain. His attention is on the future, and the Pres. of the U.S. needs to consider this more than lining his own pockets. Above all this, the person running this country needs to truely care about the people his/her choices impact. Some people are just more concerned with the power, and abuse it for their own personal gain.
Voting for someone bc they will lower your taxes is rather superficial. Voting for someone based soley on financial gain (specifically tax) has gotten us into the financial mess we are in. Everyone just wants the most from each candidate, and that shows in the demographics of the supporters. With this in mind, I just have one thing to say to the McCain/Palin supporters. You are part of a very small group of people, of which that group is getting smaller and smaller every day. Your greed will ultimately catch up with you in some way. When that day comes, you will experience a level of enlightenment that will hopefully bring you some empathy that reaches beyond the walls of your house(s) on the hill. If you really care so much about your family, you would care about everyone else's families. We are all connected (A.C. Ross).
Thanks for your time.
A
Obviously a biased writer. She is probably supposed solve all the lower 48s energy issues.
I can't help but think that there is a good chance with John McCain being 72 that Sarah Palin could become President of the United States. The thought of her as president is extremely difficult for me to imagine and if it happened would be a political nightmare. She just doesn't have the "stuff" to be president and I have a difficult time believing that anyone else could really believe that she does. Wake Up People!!
Although the U.S. is rapidly becoming as socialist as the European Union, we are still, at our roots an ecomonmy built on capitalism. In a free market economy is it not just plain good business sense to sell your product where you can legally get the best price? And if you don't what happens? You go out of business.
Why is it even news worthy that Governor Palin should support free market capitalism?
Can we not manufacture much/most of the goods that are made in China and sold at Wal-Mart? Is it wrong, immmoral, and/or unethical that in order to get the best price for their customer that Wal Mart buys goods from China? Evidently most Americans don't think so. They show very little concern that their huge dollar volume of purchases of these foreign goods cost American jobs as well as add bilions to our trade deficit.
Why do they do it? Free-enterprise-choose-pocket-book-over-country mentality. It's capitalism. We're still capitalist at least for the time being, so why the big deal.
Maybe much of the press understands just how well Sarah connects with the average American. And it just drives them mad that they are so out of touch.
"I’m tired of websites posting shit they know nothing about and criticizing her for it."
I agree.
I'm still waiting for McCain to say…'My friends I was just kidding."
Yet another example of her hypocrisy.
By the way, here is a website that shares all the Sarah Palin dirt to support Barack Obama!
Here is the deal. Work with the U.S., not against it. Hasn't anyone heard of the Pickens plan? He has been all over Washington. We need to start seriously using natural gas to replace some of our dependancy on oil. Wake up America. As for Palin, she has a nice face but that's it. She is way out of her league, she was just found guilty of abuse of power, let's face it. If as a Govenor we can't trust her to do her job correctly why give her a key to Washington?
Palin is not a lunatic for having a suntan bed in the Governor’s mansion. She is a lunatic for running for Vice President when she knows she is grossly under qualified. She is a lunatic for believing that it is God’s plan for her to be vice president despite the fact that she is grossly under qualified.
Now then, this article does not criticize Palin for not sending the LNG to the Baja facility. It criticizes her for having never considered it and for never once suggesting it as an option to explore. It would be one thing if she had explored the issue, and made an informed decision against it, but she didn’t (according to the report). Not even looking at the Baja coast facility and becoming informed about the option shows her ignorance of, or at least her reluctance to address, the national need for energy independence about which she is proclaiming to be so concerned.
I agree that as the Governor of Alaska, her main concern is not that of the lower 48 states. Her main concern is for Alaska. However, the bare minimum requirement for most jobs is simply filling the job description (concerning oneself with fulfilling oneself’s core duties) and one cannot be faulted for fulfilling one’s job description. However, a candidate for promotion generally goes beyond his/her core duties and shows a real concern and understanding for the needs of all those he/she, works with, interacts with, cooperates with, and lives with (as we, more so now than ever, practically live at our jobs).
It would be encouraging if a vice presidential candidate were to have some record of involvement with national issues on the national scene, not mention a few more years of experience. We cannot fault Palin for only fulfilling her job description but I believe we can find a candidate who does better than just filling their job description.
Palin professes that she is ready to make tough decisions, but she has no record whatsoever of making tough decisions. I’d like to see just one. Just one. I could interview for a job and claim uphill and down that I’m prepared for the job, but would I get hired ahead of someone else if I had a blank resume? Of course not. I need a record that exhibits the skills of which I am professing orally. Of course, Palin really does believe she is prepared despite her lackluster resume. She believes she is prepared because she has God on her side. God wouldn’t have brought her here if she wasn’t prepared for it. Speaking of which, where is God now that Palin is being embarrassed on a regular basis by by Katie Couric and Tina Fey? He’s really left Palin hanging. Yikes!! He’s a wiley one, that God. He’s just presenting her with challenges, I guess. God is always presenting challenges.
This is why Palin is scary. She’s as bad as Islamic Fundamentalists. When you invoke the name of God for everything you do or don’t do, it gives you no sense of personal responsibility for the decisions you make. No matter what you do, you believe you are doing God’s will, so you can therefore do no wrong. Well, unfortunately for the rest of us, you CAN do wrong. You can do VERY VERY WRONG. I don’t have a problem with faith or with God, I really don’t. I think that religion is a wonderful thing. But I also feel that decisions must be made with brains and the personal strength to use your brain properly should come from….well….whatever -God, Buddha, Allah, Jesus, the stars, the Earth, your bong, your family and friends, your f-ing self.