We laid out the news from part one of the Charles Gibson sit-downs with Palin in this post. Part two ran late Thursday on Nightline. ABC summarizes the news from part two this way:
In the day's second interview, when it came to the discussion of energy policy, turf the Alaska governor is far more comfortable discussing, many of the differences between she and McCain were exposed. McCain has said he believes humans are responsible for climate change and that the government should not allow drilling in ANWR, positions opposite to those of his running mate.
"Do you still believe that global warming is not man made?" Gibson asked Palin.
"I believe that man's activities certainly can be contributing to the issue of global warming, climate change. Here in Alaska, the only arctic state in our Union, of course, we see the effects of climate change more so than any other area with ice pack melting. Regardless though of the reason for climate change, whether it's entirely, wholly caused by man's activities or is part of the cyclical nature of our planet -- the warming and the cooling trends -- regardless of that, John McCain and I agree that we gotta do something about it and we have to make sure that we're doing all we can to cut down on pollution."
In the past, including in an interview with Newsmax.com in August just ahead of her nomination, Palin said: "I'm not one though who would attribute [global warming] to being man-made."
In her interview with Gibson she was much more measured in her response.
McCain and Palin agree on offshore drilling but differ on exploration in ANWR, a federally protected wildlife reserve.
"I'm going to keep working on that one with him. ANWR, of course, is a 2,000 acre swath of land in the middle of about a 20 million acre swath of land. 2,000 acres that we're asking the feds to unlock so that there can be exploration and development… We'll agree to disagree but I'm gonna keep pushing that and I think eventually we're all gonna come together on that one."
It might, however, not take so much work to convince McCain to change his mind. "I continue to examine it," the Arizona Senator told The Weekly Standard at the end of August about ANWR.
More from ABC's interviews with Palin is due on Good Morning America in the 7 a.m. ET hour, and on World News and 20/20 tonight. Check your local listings for their air times.
Update at 7:15 a.m. ET. The Good Morning America segment just aired. Much of it was material already broadcast last night. A couple things of note:
Palin, who has expressed doubt in the past about whether human activity might be contributing to global warming, said she now believes "some of man's activities" might be partly responsible.
She said that being governor of Alaska, because it borders Russia, gives her a unique qualification. "You can actually see Russia" from parts of her state, Palin noted.
She's going to "keep working" on McCain to see if she can get him to agree with her that drilling for oil should be allowed in Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge.
Also this morning, The Washington Post writes that in a talk to U.S. troops yesterday, Palin linked the 9/11 attacks to Iraq -- "a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, (that) has since been rejected even by the president himself."
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