Sunday, August 31, 2008

Palin's 2,000 Acres vs. 11,000 Gallons


Maria Bartiromo called Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin an energy expert on this morning's Meet the Press. The CNBC business reporter cited energy as Palin's "sweet spot", saying she was impressed with her knowledge.

Maria found her argument for drilling in Alaska National Wildlife Reserve compelling. It would only impact 2,000 acres out of 2 million. So what's Sarah's track record on representing Alaska oil accurately?

Her February interview on CSPAN's Washington Journal showed a large chink in her energy armour.

Governor Palin (at the 4:00 minute mark): A drunken captain that ran the ExxonValdez ship into Bligh Reef and spilled 11,000 gallons of fuel

Wrong! The ExxonValdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil, eventually covering 11,000 square miles of ocean. The energy expert missed the size of the spill by 10.79 million gallons. She also called it fuel vs. crude oil.

Was it an intentional dodge to minimize attention to human misadventures in moving oil around our planet? If so, what does that imply about her "only 2,000 acres" on ANWR?

No comments: