Fox News Channel pundit, and for a short time Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin says that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal should ignore Federal environmental laws and build sand berms despite objections from the Army Corps of Engineers that the islands could cause more damage than they prevent:
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) pushed Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) on Sunday to ignore federal rules and proceed with his desire to build berms to protect his state’s coastline.
Palin told Jindal to “ask forgiveness later” for a plan to build a chain of artificial protective islands off of the coast of Louisiana to help mitigate the ecological impact of the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in Louisiana.
The federal government has yet to sign off on Jindal’s plan, earning the enmity of the governor, a political favorite of conservatives and a potential future Republican candidate for president.
Palin tweeted Monday evening:
Gov.Jindal:to avoid ravished coast, build the berms.Ask forgiveness later;Feds are slow to act,local leadership&action can do more for coast
Palin’s tweet underscores some Republicans’ complaints about President Barack Obama and the federal government’s response to the oil spill, which have centered around the administration’s quickness to response and adeptness at allowing states to respond quickly.
As with many things that Palin comments on, the answer isn’t quite as simple as she makes it out to be. For one thing, there seems to be a significant concern that berms could simply divert oil into the waters of neighboring Mississippi. For another, the ongoing discovery of oil plumes deep underwater seems to suggest that booms and sand berms would have little effect in stopping the majority of the oil from coming ashore eventually. Nonetheless, Admiral Thad Allen, who has become the head of the Federal Government’s response to the disaster, has already approved a portion of the sand berm plan.
Now, it’s entirely likely that normal environmental laws may be too bureaucratic to deal with a situation like this but that doesn’t mean that it’s either reasonable or responsible to say that those laws should be ignored completely, especially when what’s good for Louisiana may be bad for her neighbors. Of course, when you’re simply a pundit pontificating on Fox News, Facebook, and Twitter, you don’t need to worry about being responsible like, you know, someone who actually has political power.
