More on Sarah Palin and Backward Policies: Opposed the Listing of Beluga Whales as Endangered Species

Luckily NOAA didn’t agree with her blatantly obvious backward policies. Keeping in line with typical Republican policy, Palin used the same old lines to attempt to prevent the implementation of sound and reasonable protection of an endangered species. I assume more of the same should she take over in January.

Article:

Boogie Woogie, Beluga Boy

http://www.grist.org/news/2008/10/17/beluga/index.html?source=rss

Belugas listed as endangered over Sarah Palin's objections

Posted at 2:29 PM on 17 Oct 2008


Despite opposition from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, beluga whales in the Cook Inlet have been declared endangered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency estimates that only 375 belugas currently frolic in the inlet, down from some 1,300 in the 1980s. Restricting subsistence hunting by Native Alaskans has not helped the problem, says NOAA, and whales continue to be threatened by development, oil and gas exploration, and industrial activities (as well as beach strandings, disease, and being munched by killer whales).

Palin strenuously opposed the listing, stating in Aug. 2007 that the science was inconclusive and that "an unnecessary federal listing and designation of critical habitat would do serious long-term damage to the vibrant economy of the Cook Inlet area." There may indeed be an impact: Unlike the feds' polar-bear listing, the beluga listing contains no caveat that economic development should remain unhindered.