Sarah Palin Says Feds Are Wrong About Endangered Beluga Whales, Decides To Sue

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by Michael dEstries January 16, 2009
Categories: Animals.

whale_palin

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska — former Republican Vice-Presidential pick, avid hunter, and super secret scientist — has announced that the federal government was wrong to place the beluga whale on the endangered species list. Obviously, Governor Palin must have done a tremendous amount of independent scientific study to arrive at this conclusion. Or she’s a puppet for oil and gas interests. Take your pick. From the article,

The State of Alaska fears that protected status for beluga whales and polar bears will hurt fisheries, tourism, and oil and gas exploration, and believes the population of belugas has stabilized and is recovering. Cook Inlet is the most populated and fastest growing watershed in Alaska, and with significant proposed offshore oil and gas development in beluga habitat, the area could seriously impact recovery for the whales.

News of Palin’s decision to sue the feds over the issue brought another round of justified anger from conservationists.“Once again Governor Palin has demonstrated either a complete lack of understanding or lack of concern over the plight of endangered species,” said Brendan Cummings, Center for Biological Diversity. “[She] must be suffering from an Ahab complex; she has an irrational obsession with driving the white whale extinct.”

Can you believe this woman was almost one step away from the White House? Her ineptitude towards environmental and conservation issues is startling. People of Alaska — I’m so sorry you’re stuck with her for a couple more years. Hang in there.


Categories: Animals.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • http://BrainyBlonde.com e

    I cannot even state on this boards what my true feelings are about this moron. She is an embarrassment to ALL women.

  • L

    ^not just women, but humans in general. It’s amusing, however, that people still take her seriously.

  • Greg

    Good, it’s about time someone stands up to the ecology nut cases who think that a rat or a minnow, or an owl is more important than human beings. Oh, I’m sure the nuts at PETA are all in an uproar, why they may retaliate by sneaking up on a frail elderly woman and slash her fur coat.

  • Bonnie

    As the planet changes so must we as people. We are the ones responsible for the decline of the Beluga so we must take action to do what we can to help it survive. We learn these rules in kindergarden. If we flush the gold fish down the toilet we need to go get another one to replace it. If we hit someone we need to make amends and apologize. If we ruin someone’s project we need to make it right and so it goes. We can go on ruining the planet or we can try to save it, it’s that simple, it just requires a decision to turn something negative into a positive. It feels good to help others instead of always satisfying our greed.

    Many Blessings to all Creatures of the Beautiful Planet Earth!

  • JoAnn

    Protecting this whale helps keep the ecosystem in balance so humans can enjoy the planet somewhat the way they inherited it. It is NOT because whales are more important than humans. In fact, Sarah Palin knows this to be true since she allows wolves to be shot and killed so the caribou and moose increase enabling Alaskans and tourists to hunt them down. Sarah knows how delicate the balance is regarding the ecosystem and takes full asdvantage.

  • http://greenergirl.typepad.com GreenerGirl

    Greg – me thinks thou art on the wrong site.

    Sarah Palin is a tool who should be put on the endangered list herself.

  • hannah

    The media loves to spin things so Sarah Palin looks like the bad guy. She miswords a sentance, everyone attacks her. This is her opinion. Let it be. The media is completly liberal.

  • Brandi

    Thing is, Palin miswords EVERY sentence, because she’s an utter moron.

    And no, she shouldn’t be put on the endangered list.. The world would be better off if her type were extinct.. :)

  • cat

    Thanks for your sympathy. We Alaskans have a long, hard two years. of course Palin has no time to research our belugas; she’s too busy building her media exposure combined with her contradictory bashing of said media. She is a walking crazy talking contradiction.

  • http://BrainyBlonde.com e

    Greg

    Why must it be “we’re better than the animal or “they’re better than us?” why this ultimatum? Why not think we’re all equal?

    Did you ever stop to think Joann and a few others tried to get through your thick skull that these animals do indeed keep the delicate balance in order? Does it make you feel better if we kill them off? Somehow make you feel more superior or like you can compensate in other areas of your manhood you’re lacking in? (bet you’re jealous of sperm whales too)

    Point is at the very least we’re all equal, but when I read ignorant words like yours I think I value the whale’s life more…

    E

  • Joe

    Right………just like Al Gore invented the internet.

    By the way, since we have record cold that we haven’t seen in 20 years – where is Al Gore. Oh thats right he is like ground hog and only comes out in the summer.

    Earth to greenies, there is no man made global warming. Its a cycle, it has happened before and will happen again.

    The exact same temperature changes are happening on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn etc.

    By the way, I am an animal lover, we need to protect the Siberian White Tiger, Whales, and all forms of wildlife, however we must do that in an intelligent way, not out of contol. “the sky is falling” craziness. If you haven’t figured it out, carbon credits is a scam for those in power to make MONEY. ITS ABOUT THE MONEY, they could care less about the environment.

    As PT Barnum once said, “A sucker is born every minute”

  • Treeevor

    1.) Equality? Among humans and animals?

    2.) Someone has to be the bad guy (or in this case girl) in an attempt to free our nation from the clutches of our dependency with foreign oil.

    3.) In the time it took all of you to call Sarah a moron, a baby seal was clubbed to death, a rabbit had lotion squirted in its eye and a large expanse of lush tropical forest was mulled over for logging and farming purposes.

    Make a difference, I did. I bought a “Save the Rain-forest” shirt with a baby tiger on it from a third grader today.

  • http://elainevigneault.com Elaine Vigneault

    That graphic made me laugh! haha :D

  • http://www.veganjapan.net herwin

    me 2, it makes me laugh. :-) she looks like Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckos Nest !!

  • http://www.ecorazzi.com michael

    People like Joe who use cold temperatures as justification that global warming isn’t happening are hilarious. Just makes you realize how ill-informed a majority of skeptics are — and their silly blame game aimed at Al Gore.

  • http://myspace.com/kdawgbabii123.com Kassy

    Just sign this petition against it!

    http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/650267901

  • http://BrainyBlonde.com e

    I only have one real issue with this board. Elaine’s response was posted after mine (I saw it posted after mine-whether she was responding to me or not is a moot point BUT then two other guys must have posted but for some reason their posts had to be approved and show up later totally screwing up the thread as it looks as if one person is responding to another and they are not or vice versa- makes for some real confusion. So either I’d say please set it so all posts should be approved or none have to be approved. I’ve worked with boards/blogs and web sites for 14 years (It’s what I do for a living) and never seen one that works like this- sadly, it’s confusing and can cause more tension than there is already ;)

    Erin

  • http://www.gunnersykes.com/ Gunner Sykes

    Of course all governors do their own scientific research.

    Sure they do.

    There are no scientists in the state of Alaska to advise her, therefore she is a pawn of the oil companies.

    Is that it?

    I am absolutely amazed at the insufferable, brainless drivel thrown at Sarah Palin by people who do not even understand what a false dilemma is.

    Or maybe they do, and figure the rubes won’t notice.

    Either way, they are pretty much beneath contempt.

  • Joe

    Michael,

    I am not justifying global warming with cold temperatures. There is NO MAN MADE global warming, its unproven. When Krakatoa erupted it put more crap into the atmosphere than all CO2, pollutants etc combined since the start of the industrial revolution.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa

    Don’t you understand that the earth does not stay the same – ever. Its constantly changing and evolving and some people can’t deal with that.

    The earth has been much warmer than it is now, and as a matter of fact we are in a cooling trend.

    http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2009/01/16/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/d390d2efc24b9fb639385713a7780401.txt

    The bottom line is all the hoopla about global warming is for one reason – MONEY.

    Carbon credits are a scam developed by those like Al Gore who have a carbon credit company.

    Follow the money

  • http://www.ecorazzi.com michael

    Joe,

    Sorry to jump on you back there. I see you’re up to the debate — which I’m also always open to discuss.

    Regarding CO2 and Volcanoes:

    http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/12/17/223957/72

    Where did you find the information that Krakota released more CO2 than humans since the industrial rev? It certainly released a lot of ash!

    Regarding the natural cycle:

    Once more, from Grist:

    “It is true that CO2 has gone up on its own in the past, most notably during the glacial-interglacial cycles. During this time, CO2 rose and fell by over 100 ppm, ranging between around 180 to 300ppm. But these rises, though they look steep over a 400Kyr timeframe, took 5K to 20Kyrs, depending on the glacial cycle.

    By contrast, we have seen an equivalent rise of 100ppm in just 150 years! Check this plot for a dramatic juxtaposition of the slow glacial termination versus the industrial revolution.”

    http://www.brighton73.freeserve.co.uk/gw/paleo/20000yrfig.htm

    I disagree that this giant “conspiracy” is all about money. We live in a capitalist society, so of course people are going to earn money. And I don’t care if Al Gore makes billions — if the United States becomes a more sustainable country — less dependent on oil, greater efficiency, less pollution — as a result, so be it.

  • Pingback: Sarah Palin: “We ordinary folk need our Beluga Caviar, let’s kill them whales.” | elephant journal

  • http://www.remyc.com RemyC

    It’s a shame MTV doesn’t make Celebrity Deathmatch anymore, the clay-animated series, because Hayden Panettiere vs. Sarah Palin would be a really fun show to watch!

  • Joe

    Michael,

    CO2 level that was emitted by Krakatoa can be found all over the internet – its well known that it put out far more CO2 than all that has been put out since the industrial revolution. CO2 is plant food, its needed. Actually during the highest levels of CO2 our planet has ever seen, our planet was at its coolest levels.

    The bottom line is the insignificant amount of CO2 that is made via mankind equals next to nothing when compared with other forms of CO2 production that we get
    naturally.

    While we try to micro analyze the global climate history of our planet over the past 40 years, we fail to understand that
    its only a spec in time. Scientists now in greater and greater numbers now believe we will be on a global cooling trend for the next half century, mainly because the sun will be at its coolest cycle in hundreds of years. The bottom line is that the earth is a dynamic environment, CO2 alone does not equal how and why its weather changes and never will.

    Al Gore scamming people and making money over something that is a fraud is shameful. There are many more problems with our environment than with CO2 production and carbon credits. We have thousands of toxic chemicals that go unchecked, bee destroying pesticides, and deforestation that contribute to far worse environmental concerns that CO2.

    Just think of the damage you do to the environment everytime you type on your Chinese made computer, take a photo on you chinese made camera or purchase your chinese made clothing. China’s environmental standards are appauling and the entire country is an ecological disaster. But hey, where is the outrage, where are the protests? The fact is nobody cares about true environmental harm because they want their stuff. The Obamafest tomorrow will do 25 times the environmental damage than Bush’s did – its all so pathetic. People are as dumb as a bucket of rocks.

  • http://BrainyBlonde.com e

    I love it when Michael talks all scientific on us. go Michael! :)

    I’ll let him respond to Joe on this one, but let me just say one thing;

    Joe, I have few qualms with Al Gore. He helped bring the POLLUTION problem to the general pop’s attention. You say plants need C02 (no doubt) So you think it’s “natural” for us to drive around gas guzzling cars polluting the environment so plants can breathe? That’s absurd you know. (I have an 04′ Hybrid and work from home so I don’t pollute *as* much) AND yes, I have a mac (are they made in China?) but do my best NEVER to buy China made (it is possible) I think it’s deplorable what they do (fur industry, melamine (my cat ate some tainted food) and kid’s toys, clothes etc.. I buy local hemp clothes from a local maker (have talked about this before) hemp shoes, I live in Florida so I don’t wear a lot of clothes (lucky me) well I don’t wear a lot of layers I should say ;)

    My issue with Al Gore is he doesn’t go veg. Even the UN scientists have explained if people just went meat free one day a freaking WEEK it could help solve our climate change crisis (by the way global warming doesn’t just mean it’s going to get “warm” It means our hot days are hotter and cold are colder (damn it’s 70 here today in Florida but will be 26 tomorrow night- THat’s outrageous. And sadly these huge changes allow for tornadoes and other storms that kill lots of people, animals (including mine in the many tornadoes I’ve been through) and the warm cycles cause hurricanes that have destroyed entire huge cities like New Orleans. So don’t tell me we “need” this and even if it isn’t man made (which I think, in part, it is) WHy don’t we start worrying about how to solve it?

    Are you telling me it’s just fate and like the volcano it’s going to happen; more hurricanes which kill thousands are just going to happen and we should just accept it? That people will be sickened daily from pollution and toxins? That we should just accept our food source will be polluted (e coli in the spinach etc) from the cow’s and pig’s run off into our water supply? Is this all good and natural? It’s bullshit is what it is.

    If we don’t act now we’ll have no more clean water, clean food and clean air. If you think it’s natural what man has done to this planet than that’s nuts.

    And to say no one cares about China and try to create a diversion? I can’t stand when people do that Joe.

    I try my best to buy nothing in China (Granted I am sure it’s not 100%) but I am appalled by their practices (or lack thereof) and encourage everyone to BAN CHINESE IMPORTS.

    It’s not easy but it is possible.

    Ok that was more than one thing. Michael back to you :)

    Paz,

    E

  • http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/502921/Fleshlight Vanesa Bambas

    We are based on a Christian Nation- not Muslim……..Jenlynn: I agree that we were primarily based as a Christian nation, but as such, should we not show tolerance toward all people (Muslims included)? Does Christianity not teach us this??

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