Keystone Argument Just Got More Interesting

POSTED BY JHW22

As we all know, the GOP has been blaming Obama for killing jobs and the high gas prices, in part by saying his decision (that they pressured him to make) to delay one leg of the Keystone Pipeline. The GOP forced him to delay it then then blamed that delay for the cost of gas. It was predictable.

What wasn't predictable was the conundrum the GOP now faces on the Oklahoma to Texas Gulf branch. In case you weren't aware, we've already had oil coming into America from Canada via the Keystone Pipeline for YEARS. The branch Obama delayed is a pipe that just sends more oil to Oklahoma -- where all the oil is bottle-necked. In fact, the oil has had to be re-routed because the facility couldn't contain it all. Why? Because the oil in Oklahoma can't get to refineries in Texas. Why? Because Texas land-owners in RED counties have blocked the pipeline. Why? Because they don't want the state to take their land so a foreign company can make profits while their land is at risk of pollution.

WAIT! WHAT?

You heard me right. Conservative Republican Libertarians in East Texas Red Counties don't want a corporation to make money off their sacrifice. They want Big Government to stop the very pipeline their own party has used to paint Obama as THE reason for high gas prices. The very people fighting the Texas branch of Keystone are the very people who support the GOP's attempt to force the Keystone Pipeline expansion.

So, if we make sure every American knows that East Texas doesn't want the pipeline and if we make sure every American knows that those landowners are Republican, then we box the GOP into a corner.

So, even though I don't like the pipeline, I sure like this corner and paint can the President presented us with today. Let's paint!

President Obama's Weekly Address - March 10, 2012

Investing in a Clean Energy Future

President Obama's Weekly Address - February 25, 2012

An All-Of-The-Above Approach to American Energy

President Obama's Weekly Address - May 14, 2011

Expanding Responsible Oil Production in America

President Obama's Weekly Address - April 30, 2011

Ending Taxpayer Subsidies for Oil Companies

The Many Lies Of Sarah Palin

Is there anything that Sarah Palin won't lie about? It looks like we'll have to fact check everything she says. If someone finds something truthful, please let me know. At this point, I'm beginning to doubt her name is Sarah Palin.

During the Charlie Gibson interview Palin said (and I think I heard this claim before from Palin as well as McCain) that Alaska "produces nearly 20 percent of the US domestic supply of energy." I thought this to be a strange statistic. And the operative word is "energy." Was she talking about all energy? Or did she mean to say oil? Surely she couldn't have meant all energy because that would include coal, "nookular," hydro, etc., so I thought it was odd, but I didn't think to check it out because everyone was still groggy from the Bush Doctrine slap to the back of the head.

Well, thank Jebus for FactCheck.org. Sarah Palin, if that is your real name, we surveyed 100 people and asked them what percentage of US energy does Alaska produce yearly, and you said "nearly 20 percent." Survey says? BZZZZZT!!!

It's simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. "energy supply," a term that is generally defined as energy consumed...
Palin would have been correct to say that Alaska produces just over 14 percent of all the oil produced in the U.S., leaving out imports and leaving out other forms of power...
...But Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007, counting both domestic production and imports from other nations...
Furthermore, Palin said "energy," not "oil," so she was actually much further off the mark. According to EIA, Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production. And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only "2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes." Palin didn't make clear whether she was talking about Alaska's share of all the energy produced in the U.S. or all the energy consumed here. Either way, she was wrong.

So what do you think? I'm going to assume that her supposed children are just paid actors posing as her family to promote the "hockey mom" meme. Go ahead, prove me wrong.