In his Wednesday column, Thomas Friedman dismisses Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s desire to take advantage of her state’s abundant oil and gas resources.  Mr. Friedman claims that “ET”, or “renewable energy technology”, will become the next “great global industry” over the next few years in much the same way that information technology (IT) has done so over the past several years.  His prediction may well be true, but he further asserts that for “ET” to “rival and surpass” IT requires government-imposed restraints on individual liberty and taxpayer-funded subsidies of special interests.  In doing so, he neglects to recognize that IT’s success has been the fruit of private sector innovation and development in the free market rather than centralized government planning and spending of the public’s dime.