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Palin's experience with energy issues a big plus
Republican presidential candidate John McCain threw quite the wrench in the works when he picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a virtual unknown on the national level, as his vice-presidential running mate for the upcoming election.
- By Leah Bower, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:49 September 8, 2008
Republican presidential candidate John McCain threw quite the wrench in the works when he picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a virtual unknown on the national level, as his vice-presidential running mate for the upcoming election.
Aside from her somewhat abrasive speaking style and highly conservative social views, Palin is bringing one thing to the table - experience with energy issues.
As several publications have pointed out in the last week, Palin leads a state that is largely dependent on its oil, and hopefully gas, for revenue. Alaska is also at the centre of the debate about opening closed areas for drilling, with a significant amount of crude still sitting under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR).
Here in Alaska, Palin is seen as the rare Republican who refused to get along with the energy majors' wishes.
After tossing out the sweetheart deal the previous Republican governor had set up to create a new natural gas pipeline, she went on to badger and berate the oil companies who didn't like her plan.
She used a heck of a bludgeon to get her way as well, threatening to cancel their leases if they refused to supply gas to the proposed pipeline.
The end result is a lot of Alaskans who are proud to see her on the national stage, and hopeful that she may be able to parlay a vice-presidency into a period of increased energy growth for the largest state in the union. Environmental activists aside, the bulk of the state seems to be behind opening ANWAR to drilling, and doing anything else to keep energy dollars flowing into state coffers.
So there should be little surprise that alternative energy isn't Palin's focus, and adding her to the Republican ticket doesn't do a thing to broaden what is a terrifyingly inadequate energy policy.
I've written about it before, but it doesn't hurt to rehash how little I think of offering a few tax credits and calling it policy. Even if we do open ANWAR and offshore drilling sites around the US mainland, it isn't going to make a dent in our oil dependency for years unless we start finding new ways to power our infrastructure and industry.
Sure, I'd love to see our hard-nosed, slightly trashy, governor take on the United States' dependence on foreign oil. And on her own, I suspect she'd give it a shot. But as a vice-president, she's going to find herself shackled by the interdependence of her party and energy lobbyists, a situation I suspect she would deal poorly with.
But despite her success forcing oil companies to her will in Alaska, I am sure she'll find the national stage an entirely different game.
Alaska is a collection of small and medium sized towns, with slightly more than 670,000 people spread over more than 570,000 square miles. As Alaskans are fond of saying, you can cut their state in half and Texas would still be the US's third largest state.
But with so few people, that also means the political playing field is very small, making it easier for Palin to play the hardball she seems to love.
It is one thing to push around the oil companies in the wilds of Alaska, with the bulk of the state backing you. It is an entirely different proposition facing down an opposing political party, a highly divided population, a tanking economy and a few choice members of your own party.
- The writer is a freelance journalist based in Alaska, USA.
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