Article Contributed on: 9/13/2008 8:58:04 AM
Many people,
Matt Damon included, balk at the idea of
Governor Sarah Palin as Vice President because they say they don't know her. That is a worthy argument, so what do you do when you don't know someone? Do you simply dismiss them or do you get to know them? Open-minded people tend to start inquiring. My inquiries led me to an
interview of Governor Palin with Larry Kudlow of CNBC earlier this summer. She was not the nominee at that time and although she was being considered by the Republican Party, it seems that neither President Nominee McCain nor Governor Sarah Palin thought that she would be selected.
The energy word here is
Anwar. This sacred word to environmentalists and democrats is nearly a professional death sentence for anyone who is willing to consider drilling there. As Governor Palin commented in her acceptance speech, many people from the lower 48 states don't want to drill in Anwar but the people in Alaska (say those who have a greater likelihood of having been to or near Anwar - or can at least identify it on a map) do want to drill there. Sometimes the litmus test for a program is the "Not in my state" mantra."Sure, we are for nuclear power but not in my state." Well, it seems that Alaskans are saying, "Yes, in my state."
I listened to Presidential Nominee Barak Obama's speech on energy and I was excited. It sounded wonderful. I am all for creating a new economy in the United States around alternative and domestic energy. I foresee another economic revolution like we saw with the internet. But now, I have to ask, was Senator Obama just saying what I wanted to hear? Can he deliver? Most importantly, can he deliver his energy plan without crashing the economy with over-taxation? Or is his wonderfully sounding plan on par with prior First Lady Hillary Clinton's infamous health plan, which is now collecting dust?
Is it better to listen to a candidate who has actual experience at balancing ecology and economy as Governor Palin has done in her own, gorgeous state?
Anwar - the area in question has a footprint space of 2,000 acres (about the size of the Los Angeles Airport (LAX)). It is in a remote, uninhabited, area of Alaska; far from our noble salmon-eating grizzly bears, and mountaineer-hosting Denali national forest. The entire state of Alaska will not become an oil rig. If we are willing to penetrate vulnerable habitat in Alaska so the average person can capture live shots of grizzlies feasting or float our boats among the migrating whales (thus adversely exposing them to human interaction) then why aren't we willing to develop an ecologically-sensitive program that drills for oil in the scarcely populated tundra?
Now, I admit, like nearly every American, I haven't been to Anwar. I haven't even been to Alaska, so my opinions are based on the actions and words of Governor Palin. I have to trust that she knows what she is talking about or her constituents would recall her.
Is it more green to truck and ship oil from half-way around the world? What is the fuel cost to bring energy to us? Would I love a car that runs on water? Perhaps, except for the fact that fresh water is also a very scarce resource as anyone living in the Western United States will attest. Will Anwar energy provide an immediate fix? No. Governor Palin said it could take at least five years before Anwar started producing.
Should the time delay be a reason for disqualification? If you say yes, let me ask if you think the same should apply to our budding (and not yet sustainable) alternative energy forms: wind, solar, and biofuels - in fact, we all know each time we buy groceries, how young the biofuel industry is. If it weren't for the poorly executed biofuel experiment, we wouldn't be paying outrageous prices for food.
Like it or not, we use oil. The real question is, would you rather extract oil in our own country where we can apply our own earth-friendly philosophy to the process so that we minimize the ecological impact, or would you rather rely on other countries who may not value ecology as much as we do?
So,
meet Governor Sarah Palin, our most eco-friendly candidate.
Watch
Govern Palin's interview regarding Anwar on Youtube. Visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ys4HGbiONY&feature=related
About the author: Allison Frederick is a writer and online marketing educator for other creative women.
http://www.famisswomen.com/ offers free Web 2.0 resources. She is also the author of an upcoming novel, A Portrait of Josephine, an academic-lite thriller. Find out how to receive a free copy of the novel by visiting
http://www.portraitofjosephine.com/