In Op-Ed, Sarah Palin Calls on Obama to Boycott Copenhagen Climate Summit

In an op-ed in Wednesday's Washington Post, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin calls on President Obama to boycott this week's international climate change summit in Copenhagen, saying the science surrounding the issue has become too politicized.

Palin writes that the recent publication of private e-mails by researchers at a British climate research center "calls into question the proposals being pushed in Copenhagen." Scientists skeptical of claims that global warming is caused by humans say the e-mails reveal researchers on the other side may have rigged some of their findings.

Palin doesn't deny the existence of climate change, and writes that she dealt with the issue as Alaska's chief executive:

"I saw the impact of changing weather patterns firsthand while serving as governor of our only Arctic state. I was one of the first governors to create a subcabinet to deal specifically with the issue and to recommend common-sense policies to respond to the coastal erosion, thawing permafrost and retreating sea ice that affect Alaska's communities and infrastructure."

But the policies being pushed at Copenhagen are "agenda-driven," Palin writes, and not a result of "weighing real-world costs and benefits." She writes that the potential benefits of proposed emissions reduction policies are outweighed by their economic costs.

"The president should boycott Copenhagen," Palin writes.

Read her entire piece here.