Palin’s axis of evil animals: Beluga whales join polar bears and wolf cubs

We know that Palin wants polar bears to go extinct, even though she wears a polar bear pin. And we know that under Palin, wolves are being slaughtered from helicopters and, for the first time ever, Alaska’s “Department of Wildlife Conservation” is entering into wolf dens and slaughtering wolf pups (see Palin “champions … savagery”).

Now you can add another animal to Palin’s enemies [extinction?] list, as the NYT reported Friday:

The federal government on Friday placed beluga whales that live in Cook Inlet in Alaska on the endangered species list, rejecting efforts by Gov. Sarah Palin and others against increased protection.

As Jeff Foxworthy might say, you might be a redneck an extremist if you think the Bush administration is going too far to protect wildlife. The NYT explains:

The relatively small, whitish whales, sometimes visible from downtown Anchorage, declined by almost 50 percent in the late 1990s, and federal scientists say they have not rebounded despite a series of protections [and] are in danger of extinction….

Well, if Palin can actually see the whales from downtown Anchorage, then I suppose that makes her a marine biologist. Seriously, though, the reason this harmless but endangered animal is in the sights of Sarah the Barracuda is that its continued existence might interfere with the work of her beloved, rapacious Big Oil buddies:

As with the polar bear, Ms. Palin’s administration opposed the beluga listing in part because of its potential to restrict coastal and offshore oil and gas development. The beluga listing could also affect other projects, including the expansion of the Port of Anchorage and a proposed bridge over Knik Arm that would connect Anchorage to the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and Ms. Palin’s hometown, Wasilla.

“I am especially concerned,” the governor said in a written statement in August 2007, when her administration submitted documents to fight the listing, “that an unnecessary federal listing and designation of critical habitat would do serious long-term damage to the vibrant economy of the Cook Inlet area.”

On Friday, Ms. Palin said the state had had “serious concerns about the low population of belugas in Cook Inlet for many years,” but she called the listing “premature.”

I fully understand where Palin is coming from. Of course the listing is “premature” — there still are a few beluga whales left.

Polar bears, wolf cubs, and whales — quite an axis of evil in the animal kingdom. What will Palin go after next: Pandas? Kittens? Bald eagles?