Sarah Palin: Cause of Global Warming 'Kinda Doesn't Matter'

In the continual stream of open-mouth-insert-foot sound bites from Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric is this latest tidbit:

"I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate because the world's weather patterns are cyclical, and over history we have seen changes there. But it kinda doesn't matter at this point in the debate what caused it. The point is it's real; we need to do something about it."

Well, kinda, it does matter. Because knowing and caring about the cause of a problem help us determine the solution—whether it's climate change or anything else that affects our country. Right? Not that this is the first time Palin has proved herself to be cavalier about environmental issues, which she's changed her position on before.

You can see the video here. The climate change remarks are about four minutes and 30 seconds in, but before that, Palin and McCain have a segment about "Drill, baby, drill" that's worth checking out for anyone who's missed it.

More from Fresh Greens:
Palin Changes Position on Climate Change
'Drill, Baby, Drill': Breaking Down Palin's VP Speech
Four Things Palin Believes About the Environment

More from U.S. News & World Report:
McCain and Obama Take On Environmental Concerns
Palin Turns Up the Anger
Sarah Palin Sparks Revival of Culture War

Follow Maura Judkis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/freshgreens

Comments

[shindig1]

speaking of bears, check out the Guardian story here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/30/uselections2008.sarahpalin1
on how, as Governor, she opposed the listing of polar bears as endangered due to global warming.

Note that the submission was peppered with references to oil-industry-funded think tank denialists.

more at http://www.exxonsecrets.org

[Star2000dancer]

Every gun shot fored,bomb,missle, war, & crisis puts pressure on the plant. The world is one organism & everything creates an infinite on the other. That'w why peace & love are the most powerfil force on rarth.

I can not evenimagine why man would want to fight for power, money or greed. What a terrible, unhappy life they lead, and then they pass it unto us. We must recreate our country back to when it was at it's greatest & recreate it. Plus we can ven make it better. It will be much easier when Pelosi, /bush,Cheney & the McCain types are gone. Obama wants this too.as does Dennis Kucinich & Ron Paul, with realistic ways.

That's the only thing giving me hope November..­.The world will change immediately, the stress will go down automatically. People will start smiling again. I ca'nt wait. However...­NO BAIL OUT FOR WALL STREET. IT'S A SCAM & THERE'S NO GOOD WAY OUT IF IT PASSES.

[NuOrigin]

I read where she lied about the results of a study proving that the bears were endangered. She flat out lied.

[rpr]

Mmmm... lots of material for Tina Fey :)
Katie Couric has that "oh no" look again when she doesn't get an answer to what specifically she reads. Priceless.

[orkranger]

We need this planet, it doesn't need us.

[orkranger]

Can someone give ONE, just ONE, example of how humans have improved this planet? Then tell me Man has not contributed to global warming.

[degenerate1991]

One cannot judge whether the planet is "improved" or not. The only judge of such a thing would be some type of religious diety, certainly not applicable in this scenario.

[BassMonk]

Interesting that she says, essentially, "man's activities are not caused by global warming."

Profound. She sounded much more intelligent before opening her mouth.

[whatsthatsound]

She's crazy like a fox! Who could disagree with a statement like that?

[SevereTireDamage]

Actually, in a way, I (gasp!) agree with her.

I've actually made this argument, that whether climate change is specifically antropogenic or not, we still have to take action to ameliorate its effects. One of the actions we need to take (for example) involves not making it worse by increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The strategy we need to adopt to adapt to climate change is exactly the same, irrespective of it's short-term "cause".

[BlackbirdHighway]

We are forced to adapt to it, since it is happening. That's not even the question.

The question is: "Will we stop making it worse?".

[NuOrigin]

Then you don't agree with her because you mention not increasing greenhouse gasses, while she doesn't care about the cause. Also, she says that she doesn't "blame all of man's activities on global warming" which is a backwards statement. Get it?

[Skua]

Well, that's because you think "do something about it" means "stop global warming from happening", whereas she things it means "someone has to get all those drowned bears out of the way of the tourist ships there!"