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'Governor's hat' off, Palin blasts Clean Water initiative

by Jason Lamb
Friday, Aug. 22, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska-- The governor has come out against the so-called Clean Water initiative.

Gov. Sarah Palin spoke out against it earlier this week, drawing sharp criticism from a group that supports Ballot Measure 4.

It is against the law for the governor to officially advocate for or against a ballot measure; however, Palin took what she calls "personal privelege" to discuss one of this year's most contentious initiatives, which voters will decide Tuesday.

"Let me take my governor's hat off just for a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop 4 -- I vote no on that. I have all the confidence in the world that (the Department of Environmental Conservation) and our (Department of Natural Resources) have great, very stringent regulations and policies already in place," Palin said. "We're going to make sure that mines operate only safely, soundly."

Renee Limoge with Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown, a group opposing Ballot Measure 4, said her group was "very pleased" that Palin made her intentions clear.

Meanwhile, Alaskans for Clean Water, which supports the measure, has filed a complaint against DNR for a recently-launched state website meant to clarify the issue for voters. 

The group believes the state is illegally staking its position on the proposition before Alaskans vote next Tuesday.

A spokesman for the group called Palin's comments "highly unethical."

"You can literally say that these guys in DNR are sitting there with the mining industry, taking it straight off their play book. The slideshow they had up on the screen when they announced this thing is straight from the one they use in their presentations around the state," said Art Hackney of Alaskans for Clean Water. "I think it's absolutely outrageous -- and somehow, unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me."

The announcement comes a day after both sides of this issue released new expense reports.

Both sides combined have spent more than $1.6 million on advertising in the past three weeks alone.

Contact Jason Lamb at jlamb@ktuu.com