Republican John McCain on Friday tapped Alaska's young governor to join him in his quest for the White House. Sarah Palin, a mother of five who keeps a play pen by her desk for her baby son, was considered a dark horse candidate to be Mr. McCain's nominee for vice-president, and in an interview with the Financial Post in her Anchorage office on Aug. 14, the governor indicated she wants to drill for oil and gas in a protected area of the state — something Mr. McCain opposes. Ms. Palin, 44, is a lifetime NRA member who is in charge of a conservative state. She's bullish on drilling offshore and opening up more of the contentious Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration and production. "People are realizing, too, there's been some deception, I think, from some on what ANWR is all about. Of the 20 million acres up there, we're looking at 2,000 acres as a footprint," she said in the interview. "With new technology, with directional drilling, maybe that footprint [will] shrink even more." Both Mr. McCain and his opponent, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, as well as several environmentalists, are against drilling in this area. Ms. Palin is Alaska's biggest champion for building a gas line that would connect its resource-rich North Slope to the lower 48 states. Her pet project, the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, was recently passed, giving TransCanada Corp. a mandate to move ahead with the project. TransCanada faces competition from BP PLC and ConocoPhillips Inc. who are charging ahead with their own line outside of Ms. Palin's legislative framework. (Read more about the battle for the gas line in Saturday's FP). Mr. Obama has also come out in support of building the line, and Ms. Palin is certain that Mr. McCain would agree. "I have all the confidence in the world that McCain too, who seems to, he seems to be even more cognizant of the fact the we have to be energy independent in America to a greater degree than we are today, and that's for national security reasons," Ms. Palin said. "McCain, too, I am sure will do all that he can to make sure that this project happens." Ms. Palin’s husband, Todd, works for BP on the North Slope, a reality she denies is a conflict because, in Alaska, one way or another, most people have ties to the oil industry. "For 20 years he's been working as an oil production operator," she said. "It is pretty much a blue collar union [job]. They are separating the oil and gas and water in a facility up there." Ms. Palin fishes, hunts, snowmobiles and when her husband is fishing commercially out of Bristol Bay, she sometimes goes out to help. This year, however, she hasn't even gotten around to getting a sport license to fish off the dock. Her passion for Alaska's outdoors means she respects the environment as she encourages resource development, she said. Her oldest son has traded his hockey shoulder pads to join the army. One of her three daughters, Piper, scooted in and out of her office as Ms. Palin spoke with the Financial Post. Her other two daughters were also around. Her youngest son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, was born in April. He has Down syndrome.

Prior to taking the helm in Alaska, Ms. Palin was the mayor of Wasilla, a city near Anchorage. Ms. Palin's office did not immediately return calls for comment Friday morning. During Ms. Palin’s interview with the FP, she was coy about the vice-presidential opportunity. She evaded saying she would take the job. "Because it is so far out of that realm of possibilities, I don't spend time thinking about it, to tell you the truth," she told the FP. "And I'm very excited for whomever it is to be tapped soon so that I get to concentrate just on what we're doing today in Alaska." (See more questions and answers about the VP job below). Sarah Palin Interview from Aug. 14: The VP Questions Financial Post: What is it like to be named as a VP prospect? Ms. Palin: It kind of cracks me up. It is so far out of the realm of possibility and reality. FP: How so? Ms. Palin: Because I’m a hockey mom from Alaska. And I have a heck of a lot on my plate up here with a very full and fulfilling job as governor. FP: If you were asked would you say no? Ms. Palin: Again, because it is so far out of that realm of possibilities, I don’t spend time thinking about it, to tell you the truth. And I’m very excited for whomever it is to be tapped soon so that I get to concentrate just on what we’re doing today in Alaska. Here's what she had to say on the energy questions FP: What does getting TransCanada licensed under AGIA mean for Alaska and North America? Ms. Palin: What this means is we're taking steps towards dealing with an energy crisis that affects Alaska and the entire North American continent. Alaska finally can be in a position of producing and contributing to a solution here, to a problem that so many on the North American continent are facing. Finally, Alaskans can be put in the position of being that producer and at the same time, we're in a position, finally, where we can protect our state sovereignty. FP: What happens if TransCanada's open season — its call for shipping commitments — doesn't have the support it needs to go ahead? Ms. Palin: There are provisions in the oil companies' leases that say when it is economic [to do so], [the] resources are going to be developed. There's a duty to produce, and if [the producers] don't abide by that, there are tools in the state's toolbox that we can use to make sure that they do abide by the provisions in their leases. And that includes litigation. We don't want to have to go there. We want to be working with these producers, with the leaseholders between now and then. A partnership that will make sure this is win-win for all. For the state, the producers, [and] the pipeline building company -- that's the goal and that's what's going to happen.