“Her philosophy is to cut, kill, dig, and drill.
She is in the Stone Age of wildlife management;
And she is very opposed to utilizing accepted science.”
John Toppenberg,
Director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance
Several people have asked me why I’m so adamantly opposed to Governor Palin’s Vice Presidency Nomination, so I’ve penned this response.
Several people have also suggested that it’s extremely unfair of me to ‘paint Senator McCain with the same brush.’ To these people, my response would be that if I were running for public office, and seeking a running mate who would only be ‘a heartbeat away’ from taking over, if and when I was unable to carry out my duties, I would definitely want to select someone who shared my inherent beliefs on important issues facing America today.
Senator McCain had a long and distinguished record of being a conservationist, a proponent of fighting climate change, and an ardent opponent of offshore drilling, especially in and around the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Since I am not a political insider, I do not know if Senator McCain did a terrible job of checking Governor Palin’s miserable background concerning these issues, or if he has very sadly suddenly changed his views on conservation, on climate change, and on protecting ANWR. He never mentioned any of them in his nominating speech. But he has publicly declared that he has changed his mind about offshore drilling elsewhere. And recent magazine articles indicate that he may soon change his mind about drilling in ANWR. He is quoted as ‘planning to discuss it’ with you know who – Governor Sarah Palin. Any bets on him soon proclaiming, “Let’s drill in ANWR, too?”
And a few people have even suggested that the abysmal and barbaric aerial hunting practices being carried out in Alaska today are not the fault of its present Governor, since its prior Governor initiated them. To these people, I must point out that Governor Palin has gone much further than even her gubernatorial predecessor in her ardent anti-conservation, anti-wildlife stance; and I present the following facts.
Governor Sarah Palin has been in office less than two years; and she’s already amassed a well documented, extremely anti-environmental record, on issues ranging from wildlife and habitat destruction, to climate change, to energy and drilling.
Aerial Hunting of Timber Wolves and Bears
Governor Palin is an active promoter and advocate of Alaska’s existing, and still federally illegal, aerial wildlife hunting program, whereby wolves and bears are shot down from the air, and/or chased by airplane and helicopter to sheer exhaustion, and then murdered at point blank range.
Under her administration, these so called ‘sportsmen’ and ‘state wildlife caretakers’ are now even marching into wolf dens and slaughtering helpless newborn wolf pups.
She is also the one who initiated Alaska’s $150 bounty on timber wolves, in an effort to entice even more civilian hunters, not designated state wildlife personnel, to kill even more wolves; with these citizen hunters being required to hideously present a murdered wolf’s sawed off foreleg, to collect her state-provided reward.
Governor Palin also actively opposed a ballot measure seeking to end this barbaric aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska; and she spent $400,000 on a campaign aimed at swaying voters to accept her widely expanded state aerial hunting program.
She, not her predecessor, introduced legislation to make it even easier to kill wolves and bears in Alaska; and she even tried to remove the aerial hunting initiative from the ballot, to block the ability of Alaska’s citizens to even vote on this issue.
The Alaska Board of Game, which she appoints and directs, has already approved the killing of bear sows with cubs, as part of her new and expanded ‘wildlife management’ campaign, and she has already expanded her bear ‘aerial control programs’ – i.e. – the aerial slaughter of bears, to include even female bears with young offspring.
Climate Change and Oil
As recently as August 2008, Governor Palin questioned whether man-made fossil fuel emissions are even remotely responsible for climate change, defying current worldwide scientific consensus. Even the anti-environmental Bush Administration finally admitted last year that climate change is, indeed, real, and is, indeed, largely man-made.
And her adamant ‘drill, drill, drill’ approach to energy issues will do nothing at all to ease the causes of this climate change, to help promote the use of clean, renewable, energy sources in America, or to break our ever increasing addiction to foreign oil.
Endangered Species
Governor Palin has repeatedly opposed the listing of numerous endangered American animals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), despite overwhelming scientific evidence that such listings are, indeed, now duly warranted.
Polar Bears
The U.S. Geological Survey predicts that the current loss of summer sea ice - crucial habitat for Earth’s polar bears - could lead to the demise of over two-thirds of the world's polar bears by mid-century, including all of Alaska's remaining polar bears.
Even the Bush Administration finally proposed listing our polar bears as ‘threatened’ under the Endangered Species Act last year, to help protect their remaining habitat from threats posed by increasing oil and gas development in the area.
Yet, Governor Palin has actively and consistently opposed this listing of the American polar bear, despite the fact that Alaska's top marine mammal biologists have agreed with federal scientists that the polar bear should definitely be listed as at least ‘threatened’ today.
She even wrote to the Secretary of the Interior urging him not to list the polar bear at all on the Endangered Species List, on the grounds that listing it might hurt her state's planned oil and gas initiatives.
And after the polar bear was listed anyway, Governor Palin then went so far as to file a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to overturn its long overdue and badly needed decision.
Beluga Whales
Alaska's Cook Inlet Beluga Whales are a unique group of white whales whose numbers have been drastically declining over the past two decades, due to pressures ranging from water pollution, to loss of food sources, to increased ship traffic.
Governor Palin has also consistently opposed the listing of these vanishing beluga whales as an endangered species, once again citing their listing as ‘a threat to oil and gas development,’ despite their genetic uniqueness, and despite the fact that their numbers have decreased from the thousands, to only a mere 300 remaining American beluga whales today.
Drilling in ANWR
Governor Palin is an ardent supporter of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), a vibrant and vital American wilderness area. It is home to hundreds of thousands of caribou who use this refuge as a calving ground, to more than one million migratory birds, and to countless other Alaskan animals. It is also the most important on-shore denning habitat for our remaining, endangered, female polar bears.
Senator McCain has repeatedly vowed over the years to protect this pristine wilderness area from destruction. But we don’t know yet, if Governor Palin has already changed his mind about drilling in ANWR. My guess is that she already has.
She is also an ardent supporter of drilling in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, despite the risks to sensitive marine wildlife in this area, including the endangered Polar bear and the vanishing Beluga whale.
Clean Water and Protection of Our Salmon vs. Mining Interests
Just this past summer, Governor Palin actively campaigned against a state ballot measure aimed at protecting Alaska's pristine Bristol Bay. The mining industry is seeking to develop the world’s largest open pit gold and copper mine in this area, which would pollute the Bay's headwaters, and which would almost certainly threaten the spawning grounds of the largest remaining wild salmon run in America.
I never imagined that anyone seeking national office could be more callous, or more insensitive, to preserving America’s wildlife, our remaining wilderness areas, and our ever dwindling fish resources than the current Bush Administration; but if elected to the Vice Presidency, Governor Sarah Palin just might top his truly abysmal record. And if she does, I think it would be extremely fair to also blame the man who picked her for the job.
And Finally, Governor Palin as a So Called ‘Government Reformer’ and ‘Advocate of Change’
Senator McCain has also vowed to wipe out ‘earmarks,’ which are targeted funding for specific pet projects that so many of our lawmakers absolutely love to sneak into government spending bills. As Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin originally very eagerly supported these earmarks for the controversial $398 Million Alaska project, humorously dubbed the ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’ And she only dropped her support of it, after the state's likely share of the cost for this enormous project rose quite substantially. But, she actually kept $27 million dollars of it, to build the approach road to this Bridge to Nowhere. Yet, in her nominating speech, she acted like she had very defiantly told Congress to go to hell from the very beginning.
In reality, Alaska now has a Road Going Nowhere, leading to a Non-Existent Bridge Going Nowhere, that will now most likely, Never Exist, Anywhere.
And under Governor Palin's leadership, her state, just this year, asked for almost $300 per person in special requests for pet projects from Alaska’s now indicted Senator Ted Stevens. That's more than any other state received, per person, from Congress, for the current budget year. Other states got just $34 worth of local projects, per person this year, on average, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog group.
And Alaska’s earmarked requests to Congress in her very first year in office as Governor exceeded $550 million, or more than a whopping $800 per resident. Governor Palin, in reality, has only reduced her requests for special projects and earmarked funds very recently, in the wake of President Bush's recent demand for a cutback in these funds.
She doesn’t sound like much of a Reformer to me at all, or any kind of an Advocate for Change, for that matter. She actually sounds more like a ‘business as usual’ type politician amongst today’s many greedy ‘business as usual’ type politicians; and in her case, 'business as usual' will very sadly be at the dire expense of America’s ever vanishing wildlife.
If Governor Palin attains national office, remaining wildlife all across these United States will be in even greater jeopardy of soon heading down a very gruesome and a very preventable road - The Road to Extinction.
Although she might be your kind of leader; she’s definitely not mine.
Best regards,
Leland
Alexandra*
Today while belatedly filling out activist emails (from a few weeks ago) I now am horrified by the spectable PALIN is creating in Alaska.
Her approach to Wildlife management NOW INCLUDES BREAKING STATE & FED LAWS! Recently her hired killers staked out a wolf denning area, then masacaring all adults wolves to find out that 28 pups had been left. They then proceeded to "humaely(!)& illegally I might add slaughter the pups. This is what these "policies" have come to.
I fired off letters to Wash.DC and interior dept. but are Americans and especially ALASKANS really gonna tolerate this crap!
It is positively sickening! and UNAMERICAN! Terrorist Tactics on natural wild animals bothering absolutely no one and in their own homes!! WE SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO TOLERATE THIS AND CERTAINLY ASHAMED TO ELECT THESE PEOPLE AS LEADERS!!
If I was afraid of America destiny before...hey Ed! ain't that the Four Horsemen coming?
Georg
Again I thank you for stepping forward with facts and support for your passion. We're listening. Keep up the fight.
Cynthia
Like Ted said, this is chunky red meat, in bite size bits no less,anyone voting for someone like that, must have no conscience. Ed, you are a fountain of knowledge, thanks for informing us, although I can't vote with you, I shall hold my thumbs, and pray for God to restore sanity. Blessings! Jasmin Horst
Love & Light always and in all ways,
Joseph
Blessings and Love and Appreciation - Micke
Ted