Opinion: Sarah Palin says Obama should skip Copenhagen over ‘Climategate’
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Sarah Palin, the former Republican governor of the nation’s only Arctic state, has urged President Obama to cancel his trip to the United Nations climate meeting in Copenhagen over the unfolding Climategate document revelations.
In an op-ed article to appear in Wednesday’s Washington Post, the former GOP VP nominee says:
‘In his inaugural address, President Obama declared his intention to ‘restore science to its rightful place.’ ‘But instead of staying home from Copenhagen and sending a message that the United States will not be a party to fraudulent scientific practices, the president has upped the ante. He plans to fly in at the climax of the conference in hopes of sealing a ‘deal.’ Whatever deal he gets, it will be no deal for the American people.’
Palin, who was in Montana on Tuesday signing copies of her bestselling book ‘Going Rogue,’ does not question the occurence of global warming, saying, in fact, she created a sub-Cabinet post to help address its problems such as permafrost melting and coastline erosion.
Then, she adds:
‘But while we recognize the occurrence of these natural, cyclical environmental trends, we can’t say with assurance that man’s activities cause weather changes. ‘We can say, however, that any potential benefits of proposed emissions reduction policies are far outweighed by their economic costs. And those costs are real.’
The former governor said the leaked e-mails and documents from East Anglia University showing falsified and erased data ‘exposes a highly politicized scientific circle’ making decisions based on politics, not sound science.
And Palin adds:
‘Our representatives in Copenhagen should remember that good environmental policymaking is about weighing real-world costs and benefits -- not pursuing a political agenda.’
Palin moved her tour on to Colorado late Tuesday after new polling data, as reported here by The Ticket, showed her favorable rankings had moved to within 1 percentage point of the Democratic president’s job approval rating, 46% to 47%.
-- Andrew Malcolm
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