Palin says cause of global warming "doesn't matter"

Gibson's point – that humanity's response to global warming should be informed by its cause – is a valid one. If greenhouse gas emissions are changing the earth's climate, then efforts to protect ourselves from the effects of climate change should include curbing these emissions. If global warming is caused only by natural cycles, then curbing emissions will do nothing and humanity should focus on adaptation.

Alaska's Climate Change Sub-Cabinet, which Palin established in September 2007, does take up issues of mitigation, but most of its focus is on adaptation – such as how to help remote Inuit communities deal with coastal erosiion.

A story last week in the Washington Post indicates that the Alaska governor is well aware of global warming's effects on her state, but has dodged the question of its causes:

Palin does not minimize the consequences. When she established her climate sub-cabinet last September, she said in a news release that Alaskans "are already seeing the effects" of warming: "Coastal erosion, thawing permafrost, retreating sea ice and record forest fires affect our communities and our infrastructure."

But when environmentalists urged the governor to include language attributing global warming to humans and suggested that the state set a target for limiting greenhouse gas emissions, Palin hedged. Instead, she issued an executive order saying the state needed to develop a strategy that would "guide its efforts in evaluating and addressing known or suspected causes of climate change. Alaska's climate change strategy must be built on sound science and the best available facts and must recognize Alaska's interest in economic growth and the development of its resources."

Before being selected as John McCain's running mate, Palin took a stronger stance against the notion that humans are to blame for global warming. When Newsmax asked for the Alaska governor's "take on global warming" this summer, she said, “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being manmade.”

According to the Associated Press, in December 2007, Palin said to the  Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, “I’m not an Al Gore, doom-and-gloom environmentalist blaming the changes in our climate on human activity.”

Palin's current position, that the causes of climate change are unimportant but that we should take action to protect ourselves from it, is somewhat undercut by the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet's website. The section called "What Is Alaska Already Doing," has only two words: "coming soon."

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