the money. Only Alaska residents.

And it's federal land. The state doesn't own it.

Of course, the state should get revenues. But there are 700,000 people in Alaska. Meanwhile, the other 230 million Americans continue paying high prices at the pump.

"No one is closer to the oil industry than Governor Palin," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club in comments reflecting the views of a cross section of environmental activists. They cite her eagerness to embrace expanded offshore oil development, her lawsuit against further protection of polar bears so as not to hinder oil drilling in Alaska's ice-filled waters and her ardent support to allow oil companies into the Alaska wildlife refuge.

The selection of Palin places the refuge's "energy production front and center in the policy debate once again," maintains Brian Kennedy, senior vice president of the Institute for Energy Research. The group has pushed for increased domestic oil production and has some oil companies among its sponsors.

Like McCain, Palin says a national windfall profits tax on oil companies will hinder domestic energy production. Democrats are expected to be quick to ask: If it's good for Alaska, why isn't it good for the country?

- AP