Climate Change

During an interview for the September 2008 edition of Newsmax, Governor Palin addressed a question on the effects of global warming on Alaska by saying, "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."^[1]

In response to a question on whether climate change is being caused by anthropogenic sources from Katie Couric during a September 2008 interview, Palin replied "You know there are - there are man's activities that can be contributed to the issues that we're dealing with now, these impacts. I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate. Because the world's weather patterns are cyclical. And over history we have seen change there. But kind of doesn't matter at this point, as we debate what caused it. The point is: it's real; we need to do something about it."^[2]

According to the website of the government of Alaska, Governor Palin signed Administrative Order 238 into law on September 14, 2007, which created the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet to advise the Office of the Governor on climate change strategies for Alaska.

Energy

Palin has said that if McCain is elected, she will most likely lead the country's energy policy as McCain believes she is one of the most experienced individuals in the field. Palin is quoted as saying, “John and I, we’ve discussed some new responsibilities that I’m going to have as vice president. . . .First, I’ll help to lead the mission of energy security.”

She believes that energy is greatly tied to national security; she wants to eliminate our reliance "on volatile regimes of foreign countries, some who use energy as a weapon and not be dumping our U.S. dollars into those countries." ^[3]

Drilling

During a rally at Elon University on October 16, 2008, Palin told the public "'God has so richly blessed this land, not just with the oil and the gas, but with wind and the hydro, the geothermal and the biomass. We'll tap into those...We need to drill here and drill now.'" ^[4]

According to a comparison between her and Senator Joseph Biden in The New York Times, Governor Palin has supported drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The same article states that as governor she signed a law titled "Renewable Energy Fund" for Alaska, a state which is heavily dependent on fossil fuels.^[5]

During a September 2008 interview on CBS with Katie Couric, Palin addressed a question on whether her focus on drilling as a solution to increasing gas prices was misleading, she replied, "[W]e should have started 10 years ago tapping into domestic supplies that America is so rich in. Alaska has billions of barrels of oil and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean, green natural gas onshore and off-shore. Should have started doing it 10 years ago, but better late than never. It's gotta be an all-of-the-above approach to energy independence."^[6]

Environment

Endangered Species Act

Governor Palin is currently suing the Bush administration to repeal the ruling listing polar bears as an endangered species, and in an open letter she wrote to The New York Times in January 2008 she stated "there is insufficient evidence that polar bears are in danger of becoming extinct within the foreseeable future — the trigger for protection under the ESA. And there is no evidence that polar bears are being mismanaged through existing international agreements and the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act." According to an article in the Christian Times Monitor, she listed economic, transportation, and tourism reasons for her opposition to the ruling.^[7]

Palin has also released a statement that a population of beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet should not be placed on an endangered species list, saying "'an unnecessary federal listing and designation of critical habitat would do serious long-term damage to the vibrant economy of the Cook Inlet area.'" Yet on October 17, 2008, President Bush listed this group of animals as endangered and extended federal protections over them. ^[8]

Education

Evolution/Intelligent Design

In the following video, Sarah Palin expresses her view toward evolution education

According to an article in the Anchorage Daily News, during the debate for the Office of the Governor of Alaska in 2006, Palin answered a question on intelligent design from the moderator by saying "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both." In an interview after the debate, she clarified her position, stating "I don't think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."^[9]

In a September 2008 interview with CBS, however, Palin responded to a question on whether she thinks that evolution should be taught as a scientific principle or one of many theories, saying, "Oh, I think it should be taught as an accepted principle. And, as you know, I say that also as the daughter of a school teacher, a science teacher, who has really instilled in me a respect for science. It should be taught in our schools. And I won't deny that I see the hand of God in this beautiful creation that is Earth. But that is not part of the state policy or a local curriculum in a school district. Science should be taught it science class."^[10]

Healthcare

Governor Palin supports competition in health care, as well as "laws allowing patients access to better information about prices." According to the The New York Times, in 2008 she said she would consider supporting incentives that would lead employers to provide insurance to their workers based on free market principles.^[11]

Abstinence Only Education

While running for governor in 2006, she responded to the following question from the Eagle Forum Alaska Questionnaire:

Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?

Palin: Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.^[12]

Stem Cell Research

According to an article on CNN, Palin is opposed to stem-cell research. During her 2006 gubernatorial campaign in Alaska, she was questioned on her stem-cell research position and she referred to herself as pro-life stating that she could not support research that "would ultimately end in the destruction of life". However, Palin's spokesperson confirmed that the McCain-Palin administration, if elected, would support stem-cell research, even if Palin herself is opposed to it. ^{[13] [14]}

Research and Research Management

In October 2008, Palin criticized a study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on fruit flies that is taking place in Paris, France as an example of wasteful spending. According to Scientific American, the research she cited has contributed, among other things, to autism research.

SCIENCE IN THE DEBATES

Vice-Presidential Debate, October 2, 2008

Health Care

Moderator: Governor, are you interested in defending Sen. McCain's health care plan?

Palin: I am because he's got a good health care plan that is detailed. And I want to give you a couple details on that. He's proposing a $5,000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. That's a smart thing to do. That's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program and unless you're pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately, I don't think that it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds. But a $5,000 health care credit through our income tax that's budget neutral. That's going to help. And he also wants to erase those artificial lines between states so that through competition, we can cross state lines and if there's a better plan offered somewhere else, we would be able to purchase that. So affordability and accessibility will be the keys there with that $5,000 tax credit also being offered.

Moderator: Governor, I'm happy to talk to you in this next section about energy issues. Let's talk about climate change. What is true and what is false about what we have heard, read, discussed, debated about the causes of climate change?

Palin: Yes. Well, as the nation's only Arctic state and being the governor of that state, Alaska feels and sees impacts of climate change more so than any other state. And we know that it's real.I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet.

But there are real changes going on in our climate. And I don't want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts? We have got to clean up this planet. We have got to encourage other nations also to come along with us with the impacts of climate change, what we can do about that.

As governor, I was the first governor to form a climate change sub-cabinet to start dealing with the impacts. We've got to reduce emissions. John McCain is right there with an "all of the above" approach to deal with climate change impacts. We've got to become energy independent for that reason. Also as we rely more and more on other countries that don't care as much about the climate as we do, we're allowing them to produce and to emit and even pollute more than America would ever stand for.

So even in dealing with climate change, it's all the more reason that we have an "all of the above" approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change.

View Transcript

Energy

Moderator: Governor, I'm happy to talk to you in this next section about energy issues. Let's talk about climate change. What is true and what is false about what we have heard, read, discussed, debated about the causes of climate change?

PALIN: Yes. Well, as the nation's only Arctic state and being the governor of that state, Alaska feels and sees impacts of climate change more so than any other state. And we know that it's real.

I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet.

But there are real changes going on in our climate. And I don't want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts?

We have got to clean up this planet. We have got to encourage other nations also to come along with us with the impacts of climate change, what we can do about that.

As governor, I was the first governor to form a climate change sub-cabinet to start dealing with the impacts. We've got to reduce emissions. John McCain is right there with an "all of the above" approach to deal with climate change impacts.

We've got to become energy independent for that reason. Also as we rely more and more on other countries that don't care as much about the climate as we do, we're allowing them to produce and to emit and even pollute more than America would ever stand for.

So even in dealing with climate change, it's all the more reason that we have an "all of the above" approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change.

Moderator: Let me clear something up, Sen. McCain has said he supports caps on carbon emissions. Sen. Obama has said he supports clean coal technology, which I don't believe you've always supported.

PALIN: Yes, Sen. McCain does support this. The chant is "drill, baby, drill." And that's what we hear all across this country in our rallies because people are so hungry for those domestic sources of energy to be tapped into.

They know that even in my own energy-producing state we have billions of barrels of oil and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean, green natural gas. And we're building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline which is North America's largest and most you expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets.

Barack Obama and Sen. Biden, you've said no to everything in trying to find a domestic solution to the energy crisis that we're in. You even called drilling -- safe, environmentally-friendly drilling offshore as raping the outer continental shelf.

There -- with new technology, with tiny footprints even on land, it is safe to drill and we need to do more of that. But also in that "all of the above" approach that Sen. McCain supports, the alternative fuels will be tapped into: the nuclear, the clean coal.

I was surprised to hear you mention that because you had said that there isn't anything -- such a thing as clean coal. And I think you said it in a rope line, too, at one of your rallies.

Moderator: We do need to keep within our two minutes. But I just wanted to ask you, do you support capping carbon emissions?

PALIN: I do. I do.

View Transcript

Speeches on Science and Health Policy Issues

October 29, 2008 Remarks by Governor Sarah Palin on Achieving Strategic Energy Independence

On October 25, 2007, Sarah Palin gave a speech as the governor of Alaska at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Alaska Federation of Natives. Topics discussed included health care and energy and climate-change. On heath care Sarah Palin stated, "Health care is everyone’s job, not just in treating illness but in promoting healthy living. We must take personal responsibility, engaging our minds and hands in meaningful work – all essential components of healthy, secure lifestyles and communities. We’ve got to change the patterns that too many Alaskans fall into". She also discussed climate change and how Alaska will deal with it, "I created Alaska’s first Climate Change Sub-cabinet to consolidate our knowledge about the expected effects of global warming in Alaska. It will recommend measures to prepare our communities and residents for expected effects. It will also recommend how the state should participate in local, regional and national efforts to respond to changes". The full speech can be found here.

Endnotes

1. ↑ "Palin Speaks to Newsmax About McCain, Abortion." Coppock, Mike. August 29, 2008. http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/sarah_palin_vp/2008/08/29/126139.html
2. ↑ "Palin Opens Up On Controversial Issues." CBS News. Sept. 30, 2008. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/30/eveningnews/main4490618.shtml?source=mostpop_story
3. ↑ Elizabeth Holmes. "Palin to Focus on Energy-Security Policy." October 29, 2008. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122526306895879581.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
4. ↑ Mike Baker. "Palin pushes energy policy in South, says God blessed America with oil and gas resources." Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/president/31130769.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUec7PaP3E77K_0c::D3aDhUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
5. ↑ Running Mates on the Issues. The New York Times.http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/issues/vice-presidents/index.html
6. ↑ "Palin Opens Up On Controversial Issues." CBS News. Sept. 30, 2008. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/30/eveningnews/main4490618.shtml?source=mostpop_story
7. ↑ "Palin, polar bears and the presidency." Jimmy Orr. August 31, 2008. The Christian Times Monitor.http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/08/31/palin-polar-bears-and-the-presidency/
8. ↑ Kenneth R. Weiss. Alaska beluga whales put on endangered list. October 18, 2008. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-beluga18-2008oct18,0,4211532.story
9. ↑ "'Creation science' enters the race." Tom Kazzia. October 26, 2006, Anchorage Daily News, http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/8347904p-8243554c.html.
10. ↑ "Palin Opens Up On Controversial Issues." CBS News. Sept. 30, 2008. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/30/eveningnews/main4490618.shtml?source=mostpop_story
11. ↑ Running Mates on the Issues. The New York Times.http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/issues/vice-presidents/index.html
12. ↑ Palin Backed Abstinence-Only Education. Katie Primm and Mark Murray. September 1, 2008. NBC News. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/01/1320417.aspx
13. ↑ http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/12/mccain-stem-cell-ad-doesnt-mention-palins-opposition/
14. ↑ http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/as-president-jo.html#more