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Sarah Palin and Alternative Energy

Written by Miranda Marquit

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

Is Sarah Palin really that serious about renewable energy?

Photo: Voetmann, Creative Commons, Flickr
Sarah Palin represents an interesting paradox when it comes to Big Oil and alternative energy. While she has, in fact, "gone after" Big Oil, arranging for higher taxes on Big Oil in Alaska, she at the same time advocates more drilling in her home state in order to ease the current energy problems. (We'll save the debate over whether or not drilling more oil would really help our energy problems in the long run for another time, though.)

So, while Big Oil can't be happy with the taxes she imposed, they certainly can celebrate the possibility that the energy policy Palin influences if McCain wins could benefit them. Besides, the money that is disbursed to Alaska residents to help them pay the costs of energy just ends up back in Big Oil pockets anyway...

Alternative energy:

Things get somewhat confusing in terms of Palin's stance on alternative energy. While she paid lip service to alternative and renewable energy in her convention speech, the truth about how she "supports" renewable energy in Alaska looks a little different. Here are some of the highlights:

Vetoed $20 million for a wind energy project. (She did allow it to go through, finally, this year.)
Vetoed funding for a variety of renewable energy projects, including a hydropower project.
Allowed $2 million in funding to convince the public that humans do not cause global warming.
Argues that polar bears should not be listed as endangered species.

The types of alternative energy Palin favors are things like "clean" (in quotes because it's sort of an oxymoron) coal and nuclear energy. She does very little, in terms of talking or doing, with renewable energy sources like wind, solar and water.

To my mind, that is a very big indicator of where policy is likely to go if she has any influence over it. Not to mention the fact that, as someone who is pro-drilling, Palin would likely encourage and pave the way for the additional devouring of the environment in favor of fossil fuels that will increasingly hinder any sort of energy independent and sustainable future.

Disclosure: I plan to vote for Barack Obama.

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Comments (2)

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written by Arnaud , September 12, 2008

No kidding. You plan to vote for Obama? Waoh! Anybody else at The Panelist with other plans? Oh yes, may be Nader.

Out of the four points list, the only mistake of Lady Sarah was to finally let through the 20 mio investment for wind mills. Isn't energy expensive enough without having the tax payers pay some more through the IRS?

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written by Miranda Marquit , September 12, 2008

We-ell we make no secret of our progressive/liberal/environmental leanings ;)

At any rate, taxpayers pay billions in subsidies to Big Oil -- an already profitable industry. We lose out on billions more in loopholes and tax breaks for Big Oil. I don't agree with a windfall tax on the industry, but I do think that extremely profitable companies could do without taxpayer subsidies and do with some closing of the loopholes.

Taxpayers are subsidizing energy, anyway you look at it. I'd rather have my taxpayer dollars subsidize something like wind or solar or hydro -- sources that are renewable. The fact of the matter is that these types of energy will get cheaper over time, because they do not diminish in amount, and because technology will improve their efficiency from what it is now. With a limited resource like oil, though, the economics of it state that it can only get more expensive over time. It will eventually run out.

Now is the time to prepare. I'd rather spend $20 million on a renewable energy project that will ultimately help our future more than $2 billion to already profitable Big Oil companies that do little than maintain a status quo that will cripple our energy future.

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Miranda Marquit
		About the author:
		Miranda is journalistically trained freelance writer who enjoys working out of her home nestled in the beautiful Cache Valley in Utah.
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