Presidential hopeful John McCain has chosen an enemy of the conservationist movement as his running mate. The political veteran selected Alaska governor Sarah Palin, currently embroiled in a lawsuit to have the polar bear removed from the endangered species list.
Palin opposed the bear's inclusion on the list in May, following a multi-year tussle between conservation groups and the Department of the Interior (DoI). She sued the DoI in August, claiming that including the bear under the Endangered Species Act would adversely hinder offshore drilling activity in the area. McCain is also an advocate of offshore drilling.
The League of Conservation Voters has condemned Palin's selection, in line with its official support of Barack Obama's platform.
"Unfortunately, with her support for drilling in the Arctic Refuge and off our coasts, Governor Palin will simply continue the failed policies of the Bush-Cheney Administration and their Big Oil friends – policies that could make us even more dependent on foreign oil," said the organisation's president, Gene Karpinski.
Mirroring McCain's move, relative newcomer Barack Obama chose long-time
politico
Joe
Biden as his vice presidential pick. Biden has
previously
voted against opening up the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Refuge for oil
drilling purposes. He also got a lifetime score of 83 per cent on the
League's
"environmental
scorecard".
However, his record has not been without environmental criticism. The LCV condemned a vote of his last year as "anti-environment" after he opposed an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that sought to establish a commission which would give the Army Corps of Engineers extra money to prioritise water-related projects and avoid funds for those projects being eaten up by pork-barrelling.
The amendment was eventually passed by Congress after a presidential veto, but Biden's stance then is particularly timely now, as Hurricane Gustav makes landfall in the New Orleans area today and threatens to breach the levees constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers once again.
President blots his copybook with green groups for the first time 12 May 2009
New trains could reach speeds of 100 miles per hour 17 Apr 2009President reverses changes to Endangered Species Act that allowed federal agencies to sideline environmental advice 30 Apr 2009
Republicans block Obama's nominee for Interior Department appointment in show of anger at administration's efforts to tighten oil and gas regulations 14 May 2009
BrightSource Energy proposes scaling back planned solar facility following campaign from conservationists concerned about potential impact on endangered desert tortoise 15 Feb 2010Desert tortoise fears allayed? 19 Mar 2010
Cameron presents pre-election energy policy, promising greater investment certainty for low-carbon projects, green loans for households, and streamlining of planning system 19 Mar 2010
Joint statement from carbon exchange and Hungarian government aims to restore confidence in CER market 19 Mar 2010
More news
From climate change contrarians to the "KitKatastrophe" of Nestle's palm oil policy, we look at the best the green web has to offer this week 19 Mar 2010
"It needs the political enthusiasm that was behind the war on terror after 9/11" 19 Mar 2010
From the government's plans for a marine energy revolution to John Lewis' proposals for an off-grid supermarket 19 Mar 2010 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
