Sarah Palin, WaPo op-ed, December 9, 2009:
Meeting [carbon reduction] targets would require Congress to pass its cap-and-tax plans, which will result in job losses and higher energy costs... The last thing America needs is misguided legislation that will raise taxes and cost jobs.
Meg Whitman, San Jose Mercury News op-ed, September 16, 2009:
In January, the first AB 32 mandates take effect and will lead to higher energy costs at a time when we can least afford them. They will discourage job creation and could kill any recovery.
Notice the similar phrasing here: "higher energy costs," "cost jobs/discourage job creation."
It's not just similar phrasing that Whitman and Palin share: it's similar policies. Palin's op-ed was written to attack the Copenhagen climate summit and to oppose the Congressional cap-and-trade bill. Whitman's op-ed was written to attack AB 32, which she said she would order suspended indefinitely as her very first act as governor.
Earlier today in Copenhagen, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger slammed Sarah Palin's climate stance:
"You have to ask: what was she trying to accomplish?" he told the Financial Times. "Is she really interested in this subject or is she interested in her career and in winning the [Republican] nomination [for president]? You have to take all these things with a grain of salt."...
"I think there are people that just don't believe in fixing and working on the environment. They don't believe there is such a thing as global warming, they're still living in the Stone Age, which is OK, we need people like that, too," he said.
But will Arnold say similar things about Meg Whitman, who shares Sarah Palin's attitude about global warming legislation?
The Courage Campaign isn't going to wait to find out. That's why we are going to produce and air a radio ad that will broadcast on stations across California later this week. The ad will explain to the listener that Palin and Whitman share the same views on the climate crisis - views that are NOT shared by President Obama, Governor Schwarzenegger, and most Californians.
We're a small organization and can't simply cut and air the ad ourselves. We need your help to get this on the air. Please click here to kick in $25 to get this ad produced and aired.
Why a radio ad? Well, as you probably know, Whitman has launched a big radio ad buy in recent weeks. Whitman's ads are designed to raise her name identification with voters and boost her poll numbers by presenting herself as a friendly moderate who wants to help fix our broken state.
The Courage Campaign thinks that the public needs to hear the truth about Whitman's stand on global warming, which is why we're going to the radio airwaves. Will you join us? Donate now!
Once the ad is ready to be aired, I'll be sure to post it here so you can listen.
Progressive Californians need to ensure that the truth gets out there, especially when Whitman and Palin are getting media attention for their claims about the impact of climate crisis legislation. California has been a leader on this issue. Let's make sure we stay a leader.