A Bridge to Somewhere: Sarah Palin, Climate Change and the Energy Debate

WSJ - By Keith Johnson
There’s another high-profile voice warning about the perils of climate change and calling for more new energy—from an unexpected quarter.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has moderated her stance on global warming, in a bid to accelerate development of Alaska’s natural-gas resources. The L.A. Times reports:
“We Alaskans are living with the changes that you are observing in Washington,” she said. “The dramatic decreases in the extent of summer sea ice, increased coastal erosion, melting of permafrost, decrease in alpine glaciers and overall ecosystem changes are very real to us.”
“Simply waiting for low-carbon-emitting renewable capacity to be large enough will mean that it will be too late to meet the mitigation goals for reducing [carbon dioxide] that will be required under most credible climate-change models,” she warned.
“Meeting these goals will require a dramatic increase . . . to preferred available fuels, including natural gas, that have a very low carbon footprint,” she said. “These available fuels are required to supply the nation’s energy needs during the transition to green energy alternatives.”
The comments came in a hearing with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, as the administration tries to map an offshore energy policy for the U.S.
To be sure, it’s not the first time Gov. Palin has nodded toward the need for clean (or cleaner) energy. Her embrace of natural gas makes sense since she is trying to resuscitate a $30 billion pipeline project that would be an economic boon for the chilly state. And it’s not the first time a prominent politician has embraced natural gas as a green fuel. (continues...)