Few tech tracks for McCain's VP pick
Alaska is no high-tech haven, so it's understandable that Gov. Sarah Palin is a little-known quantity when it comes to tech policy and renewable energy.
In a surprise move Friday, presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain chose Palin as his vice presidential running mate. Palin, 44, was elected two years ago, becoming Alaska's youngest governor and its first female governor, and hasn't established a long public record. (Her government Web site was inaccessible most of Friday, presumably swamped by all the inquiring minds.)
John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate.
(Credit: Alaska governor's office)What is clear about Palin is that like many Alaska officials, she heartily supports onshore and offshore drilling in the state, particularly for opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That policy doesn't differ too much from McCain's--he reversed his position on drilling this summer, but he is still reticent about tapping into the ANWR. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama opposes drilling in the ANWR, and has instead pushed the development of renewable sources of energy. Obama has said that he could be open to investigating some areas that are currently off-limits. Palin's support of ANWR drilling isn't surprising given that the state's economy depends heavily on the oil and gas industry.
Still, she's not entirely beholden to Big Oil. A fiscal conservative, Palin voted in December to raise taxes for oil companies by $1.5 billion, according to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that issues a biannual state governor report card based on tax records. Cato typically excludes Alaska from its report card because the state's budget swings so widely on fluctuating oil prices based on world demand.
Chris Edwards, director of tax policy at Cato, called the governor's record on energy "uninspiring" because her tax increase didn't result in significant tax cuts elsewhere. Instead, in June, she proposed suspending fuel taxes for residents for a year, a move that would save Alaska residents an estimated $40 million.
Edwards added that despite the lack of a major software or Internet industry, Palin has not issued any tax breaks for technology companies or technology initiatives as an incentive to bring such businesses to the state (an admittedly difficult thing to do).
On the tech policy side, Palin has almost no record on issues such as Net neutrality, data privacy, and wiretapping. But there's one exception that's sure to pique the interest of privacy advocates: on May 28, Palin signed a bill that would make Alaska the ninth state to not comply with the Real ID Act, a federal law requiring national identification cards.
"It's something to reflect on as far as caring about people's privacy," said Cord Blomquist, technology policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C.
Mead Treadwell, a technology-focused venture capitalist and chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, a federal advisory commission to President Bush and Congress on Arctic research issues, said he met Palin when she was the mayor of Wasilla, a small town in Alaska. Treadwell said that she has long been open-minded about the need for technology to solve problems.
"We're a natural energy economy and you can't drill on- or offshore without bringing the best technology, like 3D seismic technology to find areas for drilling, directional drilling to exploit it, and satellites. She's supportive of new tech," Treadwell said.
Palin's father-in-law was at one time staff officer at the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation, the state's seed capital fund for technology. According to Treadwell, she was critical of her incumbent Republican rival Frank Murkowski in 2006 when he shut the foundation down. In her inaugural address as governor, she emphasized the value of research into science and technology.
Despite Alaska's absence of a big tech industry, the state's chief industries, oil and gas, as well as some telecommunications, require cutting-edge technology. Treadwell said that in discussions with Palin about balancing development vs. the environment, she typically points to technology as a solution.
In her time as governor, he said she has created a Climate Change Sub-cabinet with two advisory groups, examining how to mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as research energy issues. That research hasn't happened yet, according to Treadwell. She's also proposed an investment fund of several hundred million dollars to finding new energy solutions that would help Alaskans' reduce their dependence on expensive oil and gas, he said.
"I haven't asked for support for the tech industry, but she has seen the writing on the wall and Alaska's need to diversify its energy supply," Treadwell said.
Other tidbits from her record:
• Palin has voted to improve aviation safety with the use of technology. On April 9, Palin signed a bill for a $4.8 million loan program that helps state aircraft owners that install digital link technology known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce. The technology, which is purportedly 10 times more accurate than radar, uses an ultra-high-frequency radio to send and receive information about other aircraft using the technology. It's supported by the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Last year, Palin made deep cuts in Alaska's budget that affected many local projects, among them several renewable-energy initiatives. Palin's reasoning was to put a cap on cuts, but she vetoed money for a 50-megawatt Fire Island wind project, as well as funds for the Healy Clean Coal Project, a 50-megawatt new-technology coal power plant, according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce.
• In the same budget, Palin upheld a $46.2 million appropriation to finish a 57-mile transmission line to bring surplus hydro power from Lake Tyee to the electricity-hungry Ketchikan, according to the paper.
If you disagree with me on the creationism aspect well then... you are a monkey's uncle. :)
And of course, the Right is always Right, because they have the monopoly on knowledge and facts.
If you disagree with me on the creationism aspect well then... you are a monkey's uncle. :)
I think her affiliation with Ted Stevens and the ethics investigation with sully McCain's attempt to be the 'clean' candidate, and it really begs the question of why he chose her even with the ethics investigation hanging over her head???
I'll wager money that our tech saturation per capita is higher than the rest of the country. Friends and I have speculated that this is because of the Alaska Permanent fund dividend. The dispersal of excess oil taxes to the citizenry. Every year the citizens of Alaska get a pay-out of part of the interest from a multi-billion dollar fund set aside in the 70's. This is typically anywhere from $400 dollars per person to $2700 per person. This has enabled Alaskans to purchase computers for years. I have now left the tech industry to study law after a ten year career because tech wages are depressed in Alaska, more so than the rest of the country. There are more people that know technology up there than almost anywhere.
I assure you, Sarah Palin is the most honest national candidate we've had running in some time. She is no idiot and she listens. She is the anti-Ted Stevens. She is in the pro-development, pro-technology camp. Please, no more insults with-out substantiation, it just makes you look like a fool.
When I graduated from Wasilla High School, Sarah Palin's alma mater, there were 1200 students, some fantastic teachers, and a strong Advanced Placement program. When Sarah Palin graduated, I doubt there were less than half that many students. Unfortunately, the last several years' budget cuts have hit WHS rather hard, and it's been shedding good teachers and AP classes, with no end in sight. Last I heard, the coordinated advanced learning program had been disbanded, for lack of funds. Wasilla High School used to turn out some amazing students, many of whom were friends of mine who went onto MIT, Harvard, Colgate, Tufts, and many other top universities. Now, WHS is a school in decline, even amidst an explosion in the local housing stock, and record state revenues from oil extraction. This decline began under Mayor Palin's watch as mayor, and is coming to its inevitable conclusion under her watch as governor.
see http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/19534/4063/266/579434
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKsSYE4gfck
When you put the Obama Resume up against the Palin Resume, Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President of the U.S.
Obama is but a 2-bit "community organiser", who was aspawned by the most corrupt political machine in the country, the notorious Chicago Democratoc Party political machine.
I am not voting for a guy (Obama), who's poltical career was launched by the most notorious domestic terrorist this country has ever known, Bill Ayers.
Meanwhile, according to Joseph Biden, Obama is the "first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-31-biden-2008_x.htm
'nuff said.
If I want to vote for a guy that steals speeches from Neil Kinnock (Joe Biden), I'll go to Britain and vote for Kinnock
For the benefit of those who slept through political science, the legislative branch of government makes the laws, not the executive branch. A Governor or the President may have a veto over laws that are passed, but the state legislatures & Congress are the ones who have to write the laws and vote on them. So don't blame a Governor,much less the President, for what Congress and the state legislatures have or have not done.
Personally, I'm voting for the Palin team.
- by jamorz September 7, 2008 5:55 AM PDT
- The choices for change can be seen in the VP picks of these presidential candidates. Barry or Barack as a lot of people like to call him made a choice out of intimidation. Hillary would have been unbeatable in his camp. The problem is that the first time US senator chose instead out of fear of her a man who has been in the senate since most of us were teenagers and for the stupid under 35 before they were born, Biden. On the other hand a man who wants change chose an agent of change from outside of the Washington beltway. When it comes down to who made the wiser choice the winner is hands-down John McCain. This wasn't even a decision of national importance. If you ask me Barry is unqualified to even use the word change in his campaign. I shudder to even think that there is a group of people out there that consider this "community organizer" qualified to run this greatest nation on earth. Considering the fact that there is only one race on this planet, the human race. That you may only choose between an M or an F. Look at all of the media going mental because one mans smart choice! You can't make this kind of stuff up. If you make bad choices in the small things like an election. Can you imagine that kind of thought process in charge during a national crisis? I hate to say this but I think that the Democrats have left their brains at the door on this one.
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