Palin Flip-Flops on Whether Global Warming Has Man-Made Causes; Falsely Claims She Never Suggested Otherwise

Of course, had ABC not lied about Governor Palin's "exact words" last night, and then gone further in the tank with this thread, I would not have had the chance to read this very positive article they pointed to, so thanks, Jake.

Some more excerpts:

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"In the year since her swearing in, Gov. Sarah Palin has overhauled the state's approach to getting a natural gas pipeline, reworked its oil production tax, and helped rewrite its ethics laws, among other things."

Palin won laughs, cheers and rounds of standing applause as she promised to limit state spending and defend the state's interest "like a nanook defending her cub.

In the year since, Palin has taken noticable steps to limit budget growth and reshape the state's approach to oil and gas development and production. She abandoned the gas pipeline deal Gov. Frank Murkowski negotiated with the state's three major producers and pushed through a plan she said would ensure Alaska's interests were met.

Then she worked with state lawmakers to boost the state's oil tax.

The oil companies fought both proposals, but Palin denies claims that she's created an adversarial relationship with the industry. Instead, it's a relationship based on mutual respect and a recognition of the role of each entity, she said. "I will never forget who owns the resources that they are developing...."

"Municipal leaders credit Palin for understanding the role of local government and generally accommodating local concerns...."

"She understands that local government knows best where they need to spend their money," said Tim Beck, a Fairbanks North Star Borough Assemblyman and president of the Alaska Municipal League.

Beck criticized Palin for making decisions at times without adequately consulting those affected Palin calls the claims "frustrating" but he credited her for being accessible and taking her lead from the public.

"She realizes what her role really is in government, and that's to respond to the people," he said....

Sen. Gary Wilken, a Fairbanks Republican who joined the Senate in 1997, said Palin did something he's never seen a governor do. When she met with him and other lawmakers in her office, she sat at the side of the table and put her budget director or another key player at the head.

"It's a different style of management," he said. "It speaks to the point that she may not have all the answers, but she's got some really good people that do."

The Fairbanks Daily News Miner statement isn't even close to a slam-dunk on anything...

The NewMax article also says this;
She doubts global warming stems from human activity, and she considers herself both a fiscal and social conservative.

Doubts is a far cry from 100% against man-made.

"If we DO NOT heat the atmosphere with fossil fuel use, and we inhibit the atmosphere from getting/staying warm, yes, this great giant planet that is mostly covered in water, is eventually going to grow COLDER."

Of course, the ability to reason is not always held by those on this side of the debate. Changing the climate is a serious thing, and no one can estimate the impact of doing so on a planet where the vast majority of the world's population lives on the coast. It is not a good thing to pollute, and where we can minimize the extent to which we do so, we have an obligation - if only to our descendants - to do so. The call for a sane approach is based on the need for a measured approach, not its opposite.

What I think people need to stop obsessing over is global "warming" and start worrying about global "cooling". If we DO NOT heat the atmosphere with fossil fuel use, and we inhibit the atmosphere from getting/staying warm, yes, this great giant planet that is mostly covered in water, is eventually going to grow COLDER. Do any of you know what the temperature of outer space is? Do you know much atmosphere we have between us and outerspace? Do you know how fast the magma that is spinning in the earth is cooling?

People need to get a grip. We are using the natural resources of our own damn planet, not imported stuff from outerspace. We need to keep the planet warm, because eventually, the sun, which provides all life, will one day burn out. THAT is the threat that future generations have to worry about. So long as we take care of the planet by continuing plant and animal life, we will be FINE. And if you believe in religion, then you probably believe as most that WE are supposed to be the stewards of the Earth.

Not the plants.
Not the animals.
The Humans.

We are the only ones capable of saving the planet, just as we are capable of destroying said planet.

Get a grip folks, and give the people who are paid to find these things out some time, so they can find out for sure. Any thing else is just "guessing".

Is that so much to ask?

"For the first time the rising ocean levels have washed away an inhabited island. Lohachara island was at one point home to some 10,000 people"

Please, not that canard. Lohachara is a delta island, and its flooding has nothing to do with rising ocean levels, hysterical postings notwithstanding. When river valleys flood, is that due to rising ocean levels? Nor is this.

Coastal erosion, cyclone activity, and the normal ebb and flow of water levels in a delta are the cause.

Again, please do your homework before engaging those who have already done so.

That wasn't a flip flop. It was a straight out lie.

she did fine you lefty losers she never said once beyond a doubt any thing about global warming being man made, id like to see this bum obama treated the same way the media is clearly in the tank and its has really turned me off. look into what this guy realy wants to do you may be surprised

Please examine her words and you will see that she is acknowledging the possibility (potential) that human activities are contributing. A "flip-flop" would be if she stated that she now believes that man IS causing global warming. She did not say that, just like Obama did not say "Palin is a pig".

You know, NONE of you pro-global warming folks are willing to acknowledge the possibility that you could be wrong. In fact, anyone who suggests it is treated like an idiot who has crossed a moral boundary. You want to suppress any and all opinions that oppose your theory. However, you present yourselves as the open-minded and tolerant side.

It seems that Bjorn Lomborg agrees with Palin:

"For the Copenhagen Consensus, one of the lead economists of the IPCC, Professor Gary Yohe, did a survey of all the problems and all the benefits accruing from a temperature rise over this century of about approximately 4C. And yes, there will, of course, also be benefits: as temperatures rise, more people will die from heat, but fewer from cold; agricultural yields will decline in the tropics, but increase in the temperate zones, etc.

The model evaluates the impacts on agriculture, forestry, energy, water, unmanaged ecosystems, coastal zones, heat and cold deaths and disease. The bottom line is that benefits from global warming right now outweigh the costs (the benefit is about 0.25% of global GDP). Global warming will continue to be a net benefit until about 2070, when the damages will begin to outweigh the benefits, reaching a total damage cost equivalent to about 3.5% of GDP by 2300. This is simply not the end of humanity. If anything, global warming is a net benefit now; and even in three centuries, it will not be a challenge to our civilisation. Further, the IPCC expects the average person on earth to be 1,700% richer by the end of this century.

Tickell's hellfire and damnation sermon also misinforms us of the solutions to global warming: panicking is rarely the right state of mind for finding smart solutions. In essence, Tickell says that because the outlook is so frightening, we need to cut much, much more than the Kyoto protocol called for. Now, all peer-reviewed, published economic models demonstrate that such an effort is a colossal waste of money – one of the leading models shows that, for every pound spent, Tickell's solution would do about 13p-worth of good.

Tickell finds that current climate efforts like Kyoto have been "miserable failures", which is true, but makes it seem rather odd that he thinks much-more-of-the-same will suddenly be great policy. He claims that the reason these policies are not realised is because our governments are "craven to special interests". While this is convenient to believe, it is, of course, incorrect; the real reason is that no one in the electorate wants to pay £2, £3 or even £4 for a litre of petrol.

If we are to find a workable and economically smart solution, we would do well to look at the best climate solution from the top economists from the Copenhagen Consensus. They found that, unlike even moderate CO2 cuts, which cost more than they do good, we should focus on investing in finding cheaper low-carbon energy. This requires us to invest massively in energy research and development (R&D). Right now, we don't – because the climate panic makes us focus exclusively on cutting CO2."

Gibson focused on the "gotcha" to prop up the failed solution: cutting CO2, while ignoring the larger benefits of a temperature rise over the short run and the benefits of R&D to both the economy and the environment over the long run.

All you "buy-into-the-hype liberals" just can't fathom that while some might agree that global climate change happens and that man MAY contribute in a SMALL way- IT IS FAR FROM PROVEN FACT.

Most models used by Liberals to "prove" global warming were based on FAULTY DATA.

Jake, you got this 100% WRONG.

"For the first time the rising ocean levels have washed away an inhabited island. Lohachara island was at one point home to some 10,000 people. It, along with several other spits of land near the Indian mainland, is now permanently underwater. From the article: ' As the seas continue to swell, they will swallow whole island nations, from the Maldives to the Marshall Islands, inundate vast areas of countries from Bangladesh to Egypt, and submerge parts of scores of coastal cities. Eight years ago ... the first uninhabited islands - in the Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati - vanished beneath the waves. The people of low-lying islands in Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, have been evacuated as a precaution, but the land still juts above the sea. The disappearance of Lohachara, once home to 10,000 people, is unprecedented.'"

Hmmm, she said she didn't beleive Al Gore who says it is only because of man. Her stance is still the same.

Nice try at a gotcha. Please ABC, get some things straight. A few facts on your side are twisted a bit...that is one of them.

Let's see, Sarah Palin had said previously "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

The exchange with Gibson:
"That's why I'm attributing some of man's activities to potentially causing some of the changes in the climate right now," said Palin.

"But I -- color me a cynic," Gibson said, "but I hear a little bit of change in your policy there when you say 'Yes,' now you’re beginning to say it is man-made. Sounds to me like you're adapting your position to Senator McCain's."

"I think you are a cynic," Palin said, "because show me where I've said there's absolute proof that nothing that man has ever conducted or engaged in has had any effect or no effect on climate change. I have not said that. I have said that my belief is there is a cyclical nature of our planet — warming trends, cooling trends — I'm not going to argue scientists because I believe in science and have such a great respect for what they are telling us. I'm not going to disagree with the point that they make that man's activities can be attributed to changes."

I fail to see the flip-flop there. So scientists might or might not be right about the climate changes being cause by man. She's not taking that as fact, but she's not denying it as an impossiblity either.

Just another media person trying to come to the aid of the Obama campaign. Is this really the best that you can do?

McCain +4 in Ohio.

Looks like the MSM's (Obama's cheerleaders) and obama's decison to attack Palin and try to smear her is backfiring in the swing states.

Jake's "story" here only adds fuel to the fire.

Obama is sinking.

McCain-Palin are rising.

Oh and the new polling out for Ohio looks great for McCain and BAD for Obama.

Obama is losing more support from Democrats in Ohio that will vote for McCain-Palin.

latest poll released today has McCain ahead by 4 in Ohio.

*turns on radio*

"That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it!!"

McCain-Palin '08
Hillary '12

There's a lot of back-and-forth here on the causes of global warming. If you read Scientific American or Discover, you would know that modern science cites contributions from both man and nature. Scientists agree that man is contributing to the acceleration of natural climate cycles, to the point of self-destruction.

In January of 2007, Central Park broke a record high that was originally set in the 1870s. What caused the "global warming" in the 1870s??? I see a lot of people getting "greener" wallets over Global Warming. Man may have cause some global warming but it's minimal not the hysteria that most on the left buy.

Hmmm. New York, before it was New York, was under a glacier. DO to massive peace pipe parties somwhere around say, maybe New Mexico, global warming was being caused by not only exhaling the burnt offering, but by cooking the burnt offerings needing to satisfy the munchies. This, after thousands of years of pipe smoking and meat cooking, caused that massive ice sheet to retreat. Mad made global warming started a long time ago.

When did man made global warming start, if at all? When does life begin? Anybody who attempts to answer these questions is a fool, as only God, if you believe in one, knows that answer.

The only thing I have learned for a fact so far out of this election, is that the left wing media, much more than the right, is trying to brainwash not only the American public, but the entire planet. The Media, and largely the left wing media because most of the media is just that, is the real threat here, as they ignore facts and twist truths. People on both sides need to dig for the truth, and dont make the same mistake Matt Damon did the other day. I was one of his biggest fans, but people that gullible shouldnt control large amounts of money. Brilliant actor. Gullible person fooled by left wing reporting.

Palin is a LIAR just like McCain

A liar cannot be trusted, a LIAR does NOT belong running this contry, we have done that, been there and look at where we are

WAKE UP AMERICA

Global warming = Y2k = Bird flu

It's all a big scam driven by politics.

We will be laughing about this in 50 years.

Sarah Palin's views on Global Warming are precisely correct. It's a cyclical process. Everything important in nature occurs in a cycle. Just look at the cycle of day/night, the cycle of the seasons, tides, the menstrual cycle of reproduction, the cycle of the Earth's magnetic pole flipping from North to South. Even light has a cycle and wavelength. Why would temperature be any different?

We are simply coming out of the little ice age. It's no big deal. We all need to relax.