![Palin says the US should (and can) drill its way out of dependence on foreign oil. She has presented herself as a challenger to corporate interests in Alaska, although that is because she believes the major energy companies have not acted swiftly enough in carrying out drilling and pipeline projects in the state.[GALLO/GETTY]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/imagecache/article_image_thumb/files/article_images/oilpipeline.jpg)
ST PAUL, Minn. - Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska who has shot to prominence as
John McCain's choice as running-mate, is best known as a passionate
believer in new oil and gas exploration, including in Alaska's National
Widelife Reserve - something McCain himself rejects.
But campaigners say she has a mixed record on her dealings with the
oil corporations to which the Republican party has so many historic
ties.
VANCOUVER - As the U.S. election
campaign kicks into overdrive, Canadian politicians and oil executives
are stepping up lobbying efforts to make sure whoever controls the
White House keeps purchasing notoriously dirty oil from the Alberta tar
sands.
Two months ago, I wrote a column saying that John McCain wants to drill in your toilet. I was joking at the time, but that comment turned out to be pretty much accurate. The Republicans' top slogan going into the fall elections is "drill here, drill now." It all depends on your definition of "here."
Welcome to the People's Republic of Alaska, where every resident this year will get a $3,200 payout, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of Sarah Palin, the state's Republican governor. That's $22,400 for a family of seven, like Palin's. Since 1982, the Alaska Permanent Fund, which invests oil revenues from state lands, has paid out a dividend on invested oil loot to everyone who has been in the state for a year.
Many Western analysts have chosen to interpret the recent fighting in the Caucasus as the onset of a new Cold War, with a small pro-Western democracy bravely resisting a brutal reincarnation of Stalin's jack-booted Soviet Union. Others have viewed it a throwback to the age-old ethnic politics of southeastern Europe, with assorted minorities using contemporary border disputes to settle ancient scores.
