9-30-08 by dugan
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has opposed any federal declaration that polar bears are endangered, saying she checked the research and it backs up her denials of human-caused global warmin. But her "research" was provided by global warming deniers, some paid by the oil industry. Here’s the detailed and fact-packed story, from the British Guardian newspaper.
The story notes that one of Palin’s chief scientific sources was a paper partly funded by ExxonMobil. Others were funded by the American Petroleum Institute. Palin has made a name for being tough on the Alaskan oil industry. But tough apparently doesn’t apply when it comes to polar bears vs. Big Oil.
The industry, of course, opposes any endangered designation for the bears, because it might end up as a reason to restrict drilling in "sensitive areas."
Exxon has a long history of funding global warming denial, even getting the White House to help it fire a top U.N. scientist for his belief in Global Warming. And though it says it no longer funds individual global warming deniers, it’s still a backer of organizations, like the Heartland Institute, that go so far as to hold anti-global warming summit meetings.
At least a vice president with close ties to oil would provide a sense of continuity in the executive branch.