Whale City

A couple of months ago, I published a picture depicting Sarah Palin clubbing an Orca and I thought it was pretty hilarious given the political climate and my over-all opinion of the Alaska Governor as the biggest threat to nature, wildlife, whales, polar bears, wolves, women, children (born and unborn), humanity; basically planet Earth. I also included a link to the Anchorage Daily News, as just one example of her attitude toward her native Alaska wildlife, where it was reported that Palin opposed placing the white beluga whales of the Cook Inlet under the protection of the Endangered Species Act because it would harm the local economy.

But, despite opposition from Governor Plain, the Bush Administration is placing the white belugas of Cook Inlet on the endangered species list. There has been a sharp decline in beluga population since the 1970s when there were over 1,200 of them, now there are only 375 belugas left in the region.

The Alaska Governor called the move “premature”. This editorial from the New York Times succinctly spells it out :

“Presumably, the time for listing the belugas will be mature when the gas-and-oil infrastructure in Cook Inlet is in place and the shipping lanes are running full and the fishing industry is going gangbusters. After humans have gotten everything they want out of those waters, then it will be time.”

The author concludes:

“What makes Ms. Palin an especially effective anti-environmentalist is that she comes from Alaska. She touches the expansionist chord, the ancestral American feeling that there will always be enough nature, although it is already clear that the systemic balance of nature is beginning to break down over much of the globe.”

Mrs. Palin touts herself as a hard-core pro-lifer, but it’s clear that her feelings about the protection of life don’t extend to animals (or those “without a voice”, as she likes to say). Her attitude about the environment and the animals who inhabit the world don’t count in Sarah Palin’s pro-oil and pro-gas-line-agenda.

In many ways, the embarrassment that is her VP candidacy has a been a blessing in disguise. Now that she is in the spotlight, so is Alaska, as are issues of environment vs. human impact. And, if you ask me, so too should be her filthy, dirty record.

In the Arctic Ocean of Alaska, whales are at the center of a political battle.  But this isn’t the usual conservationists vs. big oil debate. What’s really at stake here is the future of traditional whaling, and depending on who wins this week’s elections for mayor, so is the future of the Arctic coast.

According to this article in the Anchorage Daily News, whalers who want to keep their traditional way of life, fear that if the oil industry is allowed off-shore this will adversely affect whaling.  They fear that the noise and pollution will drive away the whales they hunt for subsistence.

But it’s not that simple, the economy of the region is reliant on the oil industry and it’s only a matter of time for the off-shore drilling to go into effect.  The oil company is down-playing the effects of noise pollution and environmental pollution that it has on the whales, making it that much harder for the political leaders to make a desicion on the matter.

This is a disheartening situation because the parties involved are only looking out for their own interest.    The only clear-cut losers are the whales.  They will continue to be hunted by the whalers if off-shore drillling is not approved (though that’s very unlikely), and if drilling is allowed they wil be subjected to all sorts of threats.  My question is: Is anyone looking out for the whales?