She’s trying hard not to let people know what she really thinks, but …

One of the many things to come out of one Katie Couric’s interview of Governor Palin was confirmation that she still thinks that humankind’s living large on the planet has nothing to do with global warming. (Only one of two actual interviews that McCain’s handlers have allowed. The Faux News interview, of course, didn’t count.)

It’s taken four billion years for the planet to accumulate all that coal and oil. We’re going to burn it up in a couple of generations. And there’s no consequence at all for doing it.

Her head must have been in the line of fire of one of those hockey pucks.

The actual text of this part of the interview goes like this:

Couric: What’s your position on global warming? Do you believe it’s man-made or not?

Palin: Well, we’re the only Arctic state, of course, Alaska. So we feel the impacts more than any other state, up there with the changes in climates. And certainly, it is apparent. We have erosion issues. And we have melting sea ice, of course. So, what I’ve done up there is form a sub-cabinet to focus solely on climate change. Understanding that it is real. And …

Couric: Is it man-made, though in your view?

Palin: You know there are – there are man’s activities that can be contributed to the issues that we’re dealing with now, these impacts. 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 change there. But kind of doesn’t matter at this point, as we debate what caused it. The point is: it’s real; we need to do something about it.

Trying to make the best of this, conservatives are emphasizing the very last sentence:

“The point is: it’s real; we need to do something about it.” One comment was almost a cry of anguish, “What part of ‘it’s real; we need to do something about it’ do you not understand?”

This part.

Her response goes right to the heart of Governor Palin’s fitness for office. To “do something about it” we need to have a clear idea about what is actually causing it. Striking out blindly to solve a perceived problem without understanding it first is the traditional Bush approach that McCain wants to continue. We will spend a lot of time and money flailing around with all the wrong responses. It’s that kind of thinking that got us into both the financial and foreign policy mess we are in now.

And furthermore, the ‘debate’ Governor Palin references is over. Only Republican politicians, and then only a few of them, still try to make that case. Such as Color Country’s own Steve Urquhart. See Global Warming and Steve Urquhart. For more on scientific consensus, see A response to Adrian Briggs and the “400 Scientists”.

Just as Alaska has kept electing Ted Stevens long past the time when he was doing any good, Utah keeps electing Orrin Hatch, Bob Bennett, and yes, Steve Urquhart. Power corrupts.