Hello everyone,
This is Lori K. from BIO 31 and Peggy has asked me to help moderate the class blogspot this semester. My first duty will be to post what i know so far about Sarah Palin, the Replublican bid for our Vice Presidency, which i do feel is an environmental concern for our country, and if you read further, as well as delving deeper by following some links i am posting here, I am sure you will see why I see her as one of the greatest barriers we could face in making strides to change public opinion toward saving our precious non-renewables, and in the legislated protection of those resources for our future...plus if i don't tell 50 people every day why she is one of the worst possible candidates, my head just might explode, so here goes:
Sarah Palin was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools, which goes against 99% of the world's scientific community's factual findings on evolutionary theory and the history of mankind.
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change, again completely opposite of scientific findings to contrary.
She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy... good only for hmmmm, who would that be? Oh yea! Big Oil Companies! Not for the environment. Not for American pocketbooks! Not for the wildlife who are destroyed in the process of drilling and certainly not going to solve any problems, ever.
She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She has consistently supported drilling in ANWR(the Animal National Wildlife Refuge), use of coal-burning power plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment.
She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska. (Um, Sarah, why don't you like polar bears? Even your little ones could tell you that they are endangered and in need of help. My Ecology teacher and every ecologist on the planet could tell you they are necessary top predators that help to regulate and continue the health of their ecosystem. Get a clue!)
Also, she is a life time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and bears.
She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school system. She herself even likes to go aerial hunting, which involves the use of helicopters to run down endangered wolves and shoot them, mainly for sport... i can't imagine she eats them, but who knows how outlandish this woman really is...
For those of us women out there, we should know that Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest. And although she is so proud of keeping her (alleged) baby with down's syndrome, when she holds the child, she looks as unnatural a mother as any person i have ever seen... by the looks of it, it is really her oldest daughter, now pregnant herself, who is actually raising this child. Sara doesn't look as tho she has either the time nor the inclination to love and care for children. And yet, perhaps a woman touting the wonderful feat of having a child with a disability should actually be spending the child's most tender and formative years with them, not campaigning to be president.
She work on & supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan's bid for the presidency in 2000. Enough said.
And let us not forget the fact that John McCain met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position. This man knows very little about his running mate, other than that she is obviously good at putting on a show for the most fervent right wing voters among our population, and oh yea, she is a woman, and lord knows one woman is the same as all rest!
TO get more facts about Palin, i recommend:
sarahpalinexposed.com
moveon.org
And for a brighter alternative to the ugly options we have with the republicans, please check out Barack Obama's site: http://www.voteforchange.com
I am not suggesting you vote any particular way, i merely want every one of us as informed about our choices as possible. The future of our country, and our very planet may greatly depend on the outcome of this election, and all the ones hereafter.
Good luck.
Peace.
Stay Green.
