Friday, September 12, 2008

The Facts, Ma'am; Just the Facts

Aside from the obvious fact that if you stand at the very end of a remote part of Alaska you can, on a clear day, see Russia, the one and only other "fact" that I can remember from the first Gibson interview of the repub VP candidate was this:

Palin: Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States.

Which is no fact at all. According to FactCheck.org,
"Palin claims Alaska "produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." That's not true.

Alaska did produce 14 percent of all the oil from U.S. wells last year, but that's a far cry from all the "energy" produced in the U.S.

Alaska's share of domestic energy production was 3.5 percent, according to the official figures kept by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

And if by "supply" Palin meant all the energy consumed in the U.S., and not just produced here, then Alaska's production accounted for only 2.4 percent."

Obama is looking better every day!

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