Alaska Does Not, In Fact, Supply 20% of the Nation's Energy

grist.org

In her Friday interview with Charlie Gibson, Sarah Palin said that Alaska "produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." McCain has said the same thing -- in an interview with Univision that aired Friday, he said, "Alaska supplies 20 percent of America's energy." It's clearly an established campaign talking point.

Thing is, it's false. FactCheck.org debunks it here. Alaska is responsible for 3.5 percent of domestic energy production, and 2.4 percent of the energy consumed in the U.S. Even if you conflate "energy" with "oil and gas" -- as the campaign clearly intends -- the claim doesn't add up: The state produces 14 percent of U.S. oil and about 2 percent of U.S. natural gas.

To repeat: This assertion from the McCain/Palin campaign is demonstrably false, based on U.S. government sources. It's been debunked several times. And yet they keep repeating it.

Why repeat lies? McCain spokesman Brian Rogers offered some insight in a quote to Politico: "We're running a campaign to win. And we're not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it."

Will the aggressive, unapologetic lying work? There's some evidence the dynamic is shifting. The Obama campaign released a blistering memo fact-checking a whole series of McCain campaign claims, which got picked up by several campaign reporters. The New York Times had a front-page story on Friday on McCain's "distortions." The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Bloomberg have recently run harsh stories on the campaign's knowingly-false statements (MSM still has trouble with the "lie" word). First Read says the wheels may be coming off the Straight Talk Express. And there's this:

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Comments

[veggiequeenmo]

05:43 PM on 09/16/2008

And what if ALASKA produces that much of our domestic oil and gas? PALIN shouldn't take credit for it. Does she thinks she's God-like and created that land for her personal use? Oh, yeah, she does...

[sbvpav]

10:16 AM on 09/16/2008

you know david, this would be important, and it is, if it were not just another lie in a now long string of lies from the good ol' lying gop. first it was dirty tricks, then the southern strategy to divide and conquer, then innuendos and distortions and swiftboating. but now, after their rousing success bamboozling this country into a war that had nothing to do with those who attacks us on 9/11, the good ol' lying gop has figured out lying just works better, it is easier, more expedient and much more effective. i recall from my high school days, the basic tenet of those nasty, ugly, un-godly communists was "the big lie." tell the people a big enough lie enough times and it becomes the truth.

[emily00011]

06:15 AM on 09/16/2008

Too bad it's a pipeline she considers to be god's plan and not 21st century renewable energy. If she were such an expert she would grasp the fact that oil is a dead end in the long run. Continued reliance on it is bad of for America and bad for the planet. New technologies is where it's at, and where the money of the future is.

[aofh]

01:08 AM on 09/16/2008

I keep waiting for a joke along the lines of Hugo Chavez endorsing Palin saying something like, "Alaska, government I can believe in."

Someone should ask her about the most recent Exxon-Valdez judgement.

[Luigi53102]

11:46 PM on 09/15/2008

The McCain campaign lied about something? Go figure.

You should give him some slack, though... I heard that he was a POW.

[mari2JJ]

03:39 AM on 09/16/2008

Yes does a bird fly? Of course, just like a liar lies!!!!

[larry278]

03:37 PM on 09/16/2008

Small problem, McCain has been called an oesterich(sp?) with his head in the sand. But some say this large bird, like chickens, picks at dried feces. McCain's rap can be compared to foul [aka spelled fowl] feces. McCain's campaign hasn't gotten off the ground either but McCain's campaign has managed to also crash due to Wall St's melt down. It's a bit like McCain's problems with the Naval air craftt he once flew.
Yes, one must acknowledge that McCain's head, like W's, is locked in another site on the human body. It's said that both W & McCain need glass navels to see the world outside their GOP bubbles. The analogy of flying neglects McCain's situation now. He's stuck in the 20th century. He can't straighten up & fly right because he's a groundling now. Nice try!

[olderdem]

11:04 PM on 09/15/2008

Palin only thinks of energy as oil and natural gas -- for all her so-called "expertise", she knows nothing of other energy sources, including coal and nuclear, but more importantly renewable sources such as solar and wind. Her concept of energy, being drill, drill drill, is extremely dangerous to our future, much like the BushCheney oil regime over the last 8 years. Palin could be even worse, because she doesn't know any better.

[lbrillante]

10:45 PM on 09/15/2008

The bigger issue here that the author overlook is that Sarah Palin claims her 'expertise' in energy to be her national security 'credential. This is in and of itself ludicrous but let's not miss the point that she is certainly no expert when she can't even get the simple fact that Alaska does not provide 20% of the nation's energy! That is more important than the fact that she is lying. I assume that she had it wrong and may not have realized it but that is because she does not have the 'energy expertise' she claims to have. I believe that she also stated recently that one of her roles as vice president would be 'energy security'. McCain and Palin both have ties to oil and I think that those ties need to be laid out clearly for the american people.

Please take your article and expand on it. You can call it 'Energy Expertise?' and bring in the oil ties. See if you can find out what if any, energy expertise Palin actually has. I would really appreciate it!

[mjt218]

05:51 AM on 09/16/2008

I'm not so sure that I agree completely. . . You can probably tie 50% of our foreign policy decisions over the last century to securing energy interests. From the Iraq war to aid to sub-saharan Africa, more of our policy is about energy than is realized.

I think you do raise a good point on what Palin's experience actually is. I haven't heard too much about her time leading that Oil and Gas regulating board. The campaign doesn't seem to trumpet her results there as much as elsewhere in her career.

[TheRef65]

10:44 PM on 09/15/2008

Come on now. This is exactly what the Repubs are blamed for. McCain meant to say, given the benefit of the doubt, that Alaska is 20% of the US's contribution to National Energy and not the world's contribution. Don't get me wrong, I think he's way out there in regards to how to improve our economy, health, and safety but let's not get into this tit for tat about verbal mistakes. It just lowers the level of the debate.

Now if he comes out and continually responds this way then let's call it like we see it but I haven't heard that this is getting repeated much. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

[research]

12:23 AM on 09/16/2008

It a lie. What part of Lie don;t you understand?

[TroubleNYC]

11:16 AM on 09/16/2008

"McCain meant to say, given the benefit of the doubt, that Alaska is 20% of the US's contribution to National Energy and not the world's contribution"

He DID say that. And he's wrong.

[walkthewalk]

10:38 PM on 09/15/2008

McCain and Palin can't tell truth between them in this campaign. What kind of administration do you think they would run?

[RadCenter]

10:03 PM on 09/15/2008

Please read up on the "Palin Pipeline." It's a boondoggle. Spread the word.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/8/12517/55971/297/589573

[larry278]

09:32 PM on 09/15/2008

The McCain-Palin camp may feel that if you repeat a lie constantly, people will come to believe the lie. Stalin, Hitler & the Kims of N Korea found that to be true, for a while. Doesn't W use the big lie technique too? His remarks re: Wall St's melt down on 9/15/08 seem to confirm that.

[Schaz]

09:27 PM on 09/15/2008

Governor Palin knows more about energy than just about anyone else in the US. The rest must have counted wrong.

[Ged2012]

09:14 PM on 09/15/2008

To all Republicans out there:

You are all forgetting what Jesus stands for: TRUTH. He gave up His life because He was willing to stand up for it. Question is, do you have the guts to stand up to McCain and tell him to stop lying? I am not saying you should vote for Obama, but at least tell McCain straight to his face to stop all the lies. Or do you guys enjoy him going at Obama with all his lies? What do you think would Jesus make out of such an attitude?

I wouldn't be surprised if God would have second thoughts about you entering Heaven with the blatant indifference you display toward the dishonest attacks of your candidate. Jesus hates indifference. The parable of the Good Samaritan is a great example.

[JimboSlice]

08:58 PM on 09/15/2008

It just proves how dumb and narrow minded Sarah Palin and John McCain are that they equate oil to energy. Energy is far more than just oil and it really exposes Drill - Drill - Drill as the farce that it is.

[Lotus19]

08:50 PM on 09/15/2008

"Thing is, it's false". And what else is new? Is there *anything" McCain/Palin haven't lied about? They've lied so much I'm afraid the public and the media will become desensitized to it. I notice there's not sufficient follow-up to the questions. When they go off on a spin..why not bring them back to the original question. We've seen some journalists who are up to the challenge, but over all, people are so tired of it, they simply go on to the next lie, which then gets spun too.