Palin makes the green case for Alaskan natural gas

Governor Sarah Palin knew well who she was talking to when she presented her case before Interior Secretary Salazar today. Unlike some of the greener members of President Obama's administration, Salazar refuses to take domestic oil and gas production off of the table. But he's also revoked oil and gas exploration leases and reversed some oil shale leases, and he's signed on to Obama's plan to ramp up the use of renewable energy. Palin is banking on Salazar's statements to the effect that a balanced approach to the nation's energy problems is needed.

The governor knows that she will never convince the secretary to support or even allow drilling in ANWR, so today she talked up the environmental advantages of her state's abundant natural gas deposits. Natural gas burns cleaner than the coal and fuel oil that are being used to generate power and heat homes in much of the U.S.

Palin tailored her appeal to Salazar today by framing it in the context of global warming, a process about which she had previously expressed some skepticism:

"Stopping domestic energy production of preferred fuels does not solve the issues associated with global warming and threatened or endangered species, but it can make them worse," she said.

Palin acknowledged that "many believe" a global effort to reduce greenhouse gases is needed. "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."

Palin told Salazar that replacing dirtier fuels with cleaner-burning natural gas could slow the discharge of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Salazar is likely well aware of how sensitive the issue of jobs is to the Obama administration at a time when national unemployment is on the rise. Alaskan officials say that increasing offshore production can create 35,000 jobs with a payroll of $72 billion over the next 50 years.

Salazar told the more than 1,000 Alaskans at the hearing that but traditional oil and gas will remain part of the country's energy program:

"I understand the passion I feel in this room today," he said. "I understand the point of view of people who have subsisted in the fishing industry from time immemorial and the importance of wanting to maintain that way of life. I understand the sense I hear also from many of the people here that we need to have economic development, we need to have jobs, and oil and gas can be part of that job development."

- JP