Fuzzy Math, anyone?

oh.. how did I miss this!

Earlier this week, McCain was asked what experience Palin has about national security. Let alone whether the logic that she has experience in national security because she "understands energy" is true or not.... is he kidding us when he says she "understands energy better than anyone else in America"!

Gov. Sarah Palin "knows more about energy than probably anyone in the United States of America." --John McCain, ABC interview, Sept. 11, 2008.

Also.. guess how she knows so much about energy. Well...

Last week, Sarah Palin told Charlie Gibson of ABC News that her state, Alaska, produced "nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." Yesterday, she told a campaign rally in Golden, Colorado, that she had been responsible for overseeing "nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of oil and gas."

Guess what...

Both claims are way off.

Correct answer: Alaska produced 14.3% of US oil and 3.5% of overall energy. In addition to that link, Factcheck.org has also already verified the #s but for your benefit, I went and got the #s from DOE website and checked them again! I remember seeing 70% of US oil comes from foreign sources somewhere. That is wrong. This DOE website says ~60% of oil was imported from foreign sources in 2007. [I was surprised to see highest % is from...Canada (18.2%) and then Mexico (11.4%), followed by Saudi Arabia (11.0%), Venezuela (10.1%; Hola Hugo!), and Nigera (8.4%).

And this table verifies that 14.3% of domestic oil does indeed come from Alaska (263,595 / 1,848,450 = 14.26%; those #s are thousands of barrells, btw.)

And per DOE, the share of oil in contributing to US's total energy production is just 18%.

Coal 33%
Gas 28%
Oil 18%
Nuclear 12%
Renewable 9%

So, Alaskan oil contributes to 14.3% of 18% = 2.574% of total US energy needs, not 20%!

We expect and endure rhetoric and empty platitudes from our politicans about our financial woes, the economy, the energy crisis, and so on... but please stop feeding us outright lies!

Related: Wiki entry on Energy use in US

P.S. Pathological lies extend to areas beyond energy. The McCain campaign has taken the "politics of lying" to a whole new level ever since they chose Palin.

P.P.S Sarah Palin and the Environment