Palin Disparages Environmentalist ‘Fear Mongering’ Yet Warns of a ‘World of Hurt’ if We Don’t Drill

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:29:34 +0000

On Friday, presumptive GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin did an interview on CNBC that focused largely on American energy oil policy. Most of the discussion was about drilling in ANWR and when Bartiromo asked about the specific steps Palin would take to mitigate environmental impacts, she answered by talking about how the naysayers and fear mongers didn’t get it, and that drilling was critical to Alaska’s economy, essentially dodging the crux of the question, and alienating herself from the other 49 states.

I don’t want you to get the idea that Bartiromo was tough, because she wasn’t. In fact, Bartiromo repeated Palin’s assertion that ANWR’s footprint would only be 2,000 acres on this past Sunday’s Meet the Press four times - a claim that has been called out as a myth - as if she was a surrogate for the governor. But what struck me most was not Palin’s support for increased oil development in Alaska, but that she simultaneously criticized fear mongering tactics and employed them herself.

Green Options » cnbc

Palin Disparages Environmentalist ‘Fear Mongering’ Yet Warns of a ‘World of Hurt’ if We Don’t Drill