Sarah Palin still has environmentalists howling.
The Alaska governor and former Republican vice presidential hopeful is the target of a campaign by the Washington-based Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund which claims she is pushing for an expanded program for the shooting of wolves from the sky.
In a graphic video narrated by Hollywood star Ashley Judd, the group claims Palin even offered a $150 bounty for the left foreleg of each dead wolf collected. You can view the video here.
“When Sarah Palin came on the national scene last summer, few knew that she promotes the brutal aerial killing of wolves. Now, back in Alaska, Palin is again casting aside science and championing the slaughter of wildlife,” Judd says in the video, which features footage of a wolf howling in pain after apparently being shot from the sky.
(Photo: Palin works a crowd, Dec 1, 2008. REUTERS/Tami Chappell, USA)
On its web site, the group said in a statement that: “Governor Palin is expected shortly to introduce state legislation that would dramatically expand the aerial killing program by removing the few remaining scientific requirements from the program. ” Palin’s office was contacted by Reuters and was not immediately available for comment.
Palin, an avid hunter and angler like many Alaskans, has frequently clashed with environmentalists on issues ranging from artic oil drilling to the delisting of endangered species.
After suing last year to keep polar bears off the U.S. threatened species list, Alaska’s government said in January it plans to issue a similar challenge to block federal protections for a struggling population of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, a mature oil-producing basin.
Palin was credited with galvanizing the Democratic Party base and raising money for abortion rights causes last year because of her social and religious conservatism and strong opposition to abortion rights.
It seems Palin can still galvanize activsists on the left and in this case perhaps help raise money for a conservation group.
I'm a big Ashley fan. Love her movies and think she's a total babe but this....