Governor Palin 4 President

ANCHORAGE — Alaska Governor Palin acknowledged Tuesday that global warming is harming her state but said stepped-up natural-gas production could mitigate its effects.
Governor Palin spoke at a hearing before Interior Secretary Ken Salazar — the third of a series he is holding across the country to consider renewed oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf.

"Clean-burning natural gas can supplant dirtier fuels and slow the discharge of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We Alaskans are living with the changes that you are observing in Washington. The dramatic decreases in the extent of summer sea ice, increased coastal erosion, melting of permafrost, decrease in alpine glaciers and overall ecosystem changes are very real to us. 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, Meeting these goals will require a dramatic increase, in the very near term, to preferred available fuels—including natural gas—that have a very low carbon footprint. These available fuels are required to supply the nation's energy needs during the transition to green energy alternatives."


http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/green/chi-palin_15apr15,0,2755192.story

Gov. Sarah Palin surprised lawmakers Tuesday by forwarding the names of three appointees to the single open state Senate seat. Two of them, Tim Grussendorf and Joe Nelson, have already been rejected by the Senate Democrats.

Palin said the third, Alan Wilson, is a "successful small businessman and active in the community." He is a former president of the Alaska State Home Building Association and is currently president of Alaska Renovators, a Juneau remodeling company. Wilson only became a Democrat on March 4. He was previously registered nonpartisan, and Juneau Democratic Party officials are opposing him, as they did Nelson and Grussendorf.

Palin must appoint a Democrat from Juneau to the seat, which opened when longtime Juneau Democratic Sen. Kim Elton resigned for an Obama administration job. Her pick requires approval of a majority of the nine state Senate Democrats.

http://www.adn.com/news/government/legislature/story/759827.html

JUNEAU -- State lawmakers are preparing to reject Gov. Sarah Palin's plan to cut state spending, including $93 million for schools, and replace it with federal economic stimulus money. That would set up a showdown between the Legislature and the governor, a relationship already fouled by lots of bad blood.
Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, who leads the state Senate effort on the stimulus, said Tuesday the "likelihood is not high" that the Senate will agree to the plan. Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said he thinks the Senate majority is in agreement that Palin's proposal is not a good idea.

"At this point (the plan) doesn't make any sense to me," Stevens said Tuesday.
The governor has balked at accepting nearly a third of the $930.7 million economic stimulus money that Alaska is eligible to get. She has heavily criticized the stimulus but said she'll take the money if the Legislature agreed to cut state spending -- mostly for education -- and use the federal money instead.

What many of the Democrats fail to understand is Governor Palin's plan does provide funds which allow schools to make improvements but will not expand several programs funded by the Stimulus Package. These new programs will cause a budget shortfall in the following years which the state will struggle to pick up. In a time when our Government and all of us should be cutting back the Alaska Democrats and the Obama Administration seem to be oblivious.

http://www.adn.com/news/government/legislature/story/759529.html