Because it’s dramatic, and may presage the switch that I have been hoping for for a while: the divorce of the idea that a Conservative Environmentalist in politics is an oxymoron.

Let’s assume that Sarah Palin is continuing to ride the publicity train because she still has plans for a 2012 run for President. Leaving aside my personal opinion — that such a a nomination would fracture the GOP irrevocably, to the point that we would end up with three parties here in America – lets look at how her energy policy was in 2008 and… beyond.

Candidate Sarah

While running for Veep, Palin made some questionable calls. Sure, she got some crap for saying that calling out the National Guard of Alaska was foreign policy experience, or that Alaska’s proximity to Russia meant that she was keeping Putin in check. But what didn’t get as much press during ‘08 was Sarah Palin’s dubious claim that her stewardship of Alaska means she “knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America.”

The evidence against that little bit of hyperbole is long, and has been cataloged by many a better blogger then I. What remains surprising to me is that many people still assume that energy is a feather in her cap!

I remember the Charlie Gibson interview, the third (I think) in her series of very controlled press meet and greets, because I remember still being worried that she WAS the Right’s answer to intelligent energy policy.

During that interview, she said “Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that’s with the energy independence that I’ve been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.”

Well, in hindsight, FactCheck.org notes that this is “simply untrue.” Instead of “nearly 20 percent,” she should have said under 3 percent. Why was this not more of a big deal? I don’t know.

This, under many situations, can be construed as a lie. Even a charitable Biden-esq interpretations leaves it as a pretty big gaffe.

But, the election is over. Let’s chalk it up to the fact that America still seems to think that Energy and Environment are big complex things that they can not hope to understand, so that the difference between “expert” and “novice” doesn’t seem so large.

Governor Sarah

Since returning to Alaska, Palin has not had a smooth a go of it. The national obsession with what ever she does and says means that everyone gets to hear everything she does and says. God only knows that if this were to happen to me, I would have been branded a sexist racist baby killing anti-Semite communist by the time I made it through breakfast, but fame has not been great for Palin’s favorability ratings. At all.

But govern she continues to do, and in January, right as Obama was coming into office, she ran out her new energy plan for Alaska. I missed it at the time (there was a lot going on!) but reviews of the plan have started to filter out. Remember, this is the person who I’ve already written about in regards to her hopes to make Natural Gas the next big think in Alaska. From the Juneau Empire:

She’s calling for an ambitious statewide goal of producing half of Alaska’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025…. It won quick praise from environmental groups for its call for shifting from fossil fuels to renewable sources, such as wind, hydro, tidal and geothermal, but Palin and energy adviser Steven Haagenson also revealed that the plan isn’t actually a plan for action. Instead, it is a list of resources on which local communities may use to develop their own solutions.

I’ll let that sink in for a few seconds. Sarah PALIN wants ALASKA to be 50% renewable resources by 2050. Wow. One of the more demonized by us lefties has actually been moderating her stance on the environment pretty well in recent months.

Now, there are caveats, obviously. Since the thing “isn’t actually a plan for action”, doubts remain on the efficacy of Sarah seeing the light. People have been quick to point out the failures of the plan — and rightfully so. “Drill Baby Drill!” still rings in my years, and we have yet to see Palin embrace a logical route to some of the saving and greening that she sees in Alaska’s future.

But, you have to admit that “a list of resources on which local communities may use to develop their own solutions” is a good thing to have, and some of the plans on the list are big enough (like a hydro electric dam - feasibility study coming June 1, 2009) that some State money would have to be involved. State money means Federal money at this point, which might even mean the project actually gets built. Further, response from Alaskan Environmental groups, folks who have not always been so hip to Sarah’s game, are giving the plan rave reviews.

The cynical side of me says that she found some good ‘ol timey environmentalism because she has seen greenwashing go over real well in other polls. I also register some minor concern that the Heartland Institute thinks it is a good plan. But, in the end… who am I to question motivation? I’ve made it through the beginning of the plan (here, in PDF form, if you are interested) and any call for 50% green energy is so much further down the right path then the “Drill, Baby, Drill!” portion of Palin’s career that I wonder how the switch happened.

Palin has some other problems up there in Alaska. She’s in the news for a lot of the wrong reasons, and has decided that she should capitalize on her moment in the sun to write a book — sure to help her popularity ratings that are already dipping on the perception she doesn’t give Alaska enough time.

But this is a Green blog, not a general politics blog! So, with the caveat that the invitation might not be permanent, and that I still need to see more actual action before the accolades start rolling off my typing fingers… Sarah, welcome aboard the (I can’t believe I am writing this!) Clean Energy Bandwagon!

I’m excited by nothing so much as the vibe that the soft war - the war of common perceptions - is shifting ground. Even if it’s just an endorsement of the principle, and even if it’s a calculated political move, Palin gets credit. Let’s see if she can bite the Libertarian bullet and accept a handout from the Feds to help get her plans off the ground.

Reprinted with permission from Red Green and Blue