Palin letter sets off eco-fury

Furious environmental campaigners have hit out at vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, after it was discovered that she tried to block air-pollution cutting legislation in California.

Palin, Governor of Alaska, wrote to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, asking him to veto the Ports Investment Bill, which would see a pollution tax put on container ships arriving in Californian ports.

Money raised from the tax – an estimated $400 million per year – would be reinvested in projects designed to reduce congestion and clean up California’s air.

Palin was concerned that the tax would damage Alaska’s economy as it would increase the price of goods shipped to Alaska.

Schwarzenegger has yet to decide whether or not he will sign the bill.

The letter to Schwarzenegger was written by Palin just one day before she was nominated as John McCain’s running mate, and casts further doubt over the Republican’s already shaky environmental record.

In the past, Palin was extremely vocal in her view that global warming is not caused by human activity – although she has since revoked this opinion.

In an address to college graduates earlier this year, Palin said that the construction of a new oil pipeline through Alaska is God’s will, and urged the students to pray that it would be built.

Palin has also been accused of covering up scientific evidence that proved global warming endangered the future of polar bears in Alaska.