Palin’s Clean Energy “Plan” for Alaska Takes Backseat to ANWR
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin released an energy plan for Alaska that some might consider more of an abdication of state responsibilities than an actual ‘plan’.
In an effort to re-brand herself as a serious proponent of renewable energy, Sarah Palin has outlined a plan to get half of the state’s power from renewable sources. But be forewarned, I use the terms “outline” and “plan” loosely.
“Renewable sources will play a large role in helping Alaska meet its future energy needs, said Palin last week.
While the plan has been praised by praised by some as “very forward-thinking,” it doesn’t really provide a clear road map for getting to the goal of achieving fifty percent renewables. Rather, it identifies numerous areas in which the state could develop alternative energy.
Palin said state government would help local communities implement their parts of the plan, but not really provide any funding to do so. “We are going to put in place the legal and government structures to actually deliver it,” she said.
But that was last week.
This week, in an op-ed for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Palin’s forward-looking, renewable energy persona took a backseat to the more familiar ‘drill, baby, drill’ persona of Palin 2008. She writes:
“I AM DISMAYED THAT LEGISLATION HAS AGAIN BEEN INTRODUCED in Congress to prohibit forever oil and gas development in the most promising unexplored petroleum province in North America — the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in Alaska.”
There you have it, a person Sen. John McCain called “one of the foremost experts in this nation on energy issues,” has used the old ALL CAPS METHOD OF MAKING AN ARGUMENT.
Granted, the Star-Tribune editors may have been responsible for the all caps, but they were not responsible for the content of the argument, an argument that could have used a little editorial embellishment too.
Image: CC licensed by flickr user veganstraightedge
