Friday, January 16, 2009

Palin's Statewide Energy Plan - Designed to FAIL?

As Alaska Governor Sarah Palin prepares for one of the most important appearances of her political career, in front of the core of her perceived constituency - FOX News' brand new Glenn Beck show - she managed to fit in an appearance today to announce her long-delayed Statewide Energy Plan.

(Between a morning dentist session, rebuilding and re-pinning a capped molar, and prepping for an arts fellowship interview, I wasn't able to go to the energy announcement event.)

KUDO played a lot of it during the first hour of CC's program this afternoon. According to Linda Kellen, who listened in to the entire announcement and conference, Kyle Hopkins from the Anchorage Daily News and Dave Donalson from APRN both asked probing questions about the state's role in assisting the people of Emmonak and the lower Yukon.

Linda says there were questions from other media figures who she was unfamiliar with. She will have post up on the conference tonight.


The most poignant and powerful Alaska blogger post on the situation in Emmonak yet, was penned yesterday by Writing Raven at Alaska Real.

And Andrew Halcro is asking questions at his blog, about the dirty clean coal deal at Healy, that might even make Ray Metcalfe's head turn. Go, Andy!

And Alaska progressive bloggers have now raised over $7,100.00 for lower Yukon relief, and to get Dennis Zaki into the area to report. He'd be halfway there already, but the Bethel airport was closed for much of today.

It is really nasty outside!

Update - Friday 5:35 p.m: Here's the state's audio version of the energy plan rollout. off to the Mat-Su Democrats' Egan Dinner

image - courtesy of egregious

8 comments:

zoe said...

I have not found as yet her speech. Is she or the govt paying for the trip to Washington? Or is she doing the Beck interview on Alaska's dollars? What is her response to the crisis in Alaska? I am ambivalent about responding. I want to respond, with a donation, on the other hand, what is the Governor doing?

Thank you for your coverage. I watch you daily from the lower 48.

signed,
an anonymous blooger from the basement

Anonymous said...

We need to start flooding the state server with E Mails asking what they are doing about Emmonak. If everybody who donates rolls over and sends an E Mail to the Governor and her commissioners we can crash their server, then maybe they will wake up and do something. We need to keep up the pressure and increase it by recruiting more people to the cause of saving Emmonak. Get someone in DC to hand out flyers on the Mall on Tuesday.

Philip Munger said...

I think what we need to do is help those people in Emmonak and other Y-K Delta towns as much as we can ourselves. I'm to the point, after watching the pained expression on Palin's face on the KTUU 10:00 news tonight, when asked about the situation there, to keep her people the fuck away from the Delta and Emmonak.

By pained expression, I don't mean she appeared to be worrying about the people there. By pained, I mean she looked genuinely peeved that this situation had come up in the way it has, messing with her own personal timeline.

I predict she will find a way to send the Lt. Guv out there by tomorrow afternoon.

KaJo said...

Zoe, I read somewhere that Palin will be doing the show with Glenn Beck via satellite from Anchorage. Or maybe Wasilla.

I wonder if we'll hear a baby/babies crying in the background this time.

zoe said...

I get your point, Phil. Making a donation.

later said...

It was known in July that these communities were going to be hit hard! Why weren't plans made then given that this situation could have been predicted by the AK powers that be. NOTE in this article that their ability to capture salmon was curtailed by the state. I'm not saying that fishing should not have been held back to maintain the salmon population (that was probably a good call), but the state KNEW (or should have known) that this was comming down the pike.

Read this JULY article:
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?s=8644925

Anonymous said...

She did this to try to throw off the fact that she wasn't invited to Barack's inauguration. She just had to get something out.

Cany said...

I'm incredibly puzzled by your governor and always have been.

But what does seem obvious is her self-interest, these days. While carping and whining about the big, bad press and her continuing interest in keeping herself in the media--which is exactly what she is really interested in doing, I doubt that any objective person could deny her obvious temperament problem and proclivity to snark and obvious ego--she leaves her state's rural populations in this mess?

Why am I not at all surprised?

I read constantly that she is moving the gov duties increasingly to Anchorage (closer to home) while saying she can bounce a baby on her hip while taking care of the state. She can't. That much is obvious.

But the other problem is that Alaska, in general, doesn't seem to care, or am I wrong about this?

I think there is a perception that since her husband/conjoined whatever is part Native that she would have some kind of interest in the issue. That appears to be patently false from everything I have read. Same ol, same ol... sounds like.