'Congress is pretty strict on, um, export bans of oil and gas especially'

Palin again mangles facts on energy 9

Muckraker: Grist on Politics

On Wednesday, John McCain told Fox News' Sean Hannity that his VP pick Sarah Palin is "probably one of the foremost experts in this nation on energy issues," and reaffirmed his desire to put her in charge of energy policy in his administration.

But on Thursday, Palin once again mangled the facts about energy issues, wrongly asserting to a crowd in Wisconsin that there's some sort of congressional ban on oil exports.

A crowd member told her he had heard that 75 percent of Alaska's oil is being sold to China, and if that's true, he wanted to know why.

"No. It's not 75 percent of our oil being exported," Palin said, suggesting that some of Alaska's oil is going abroad, but not that much, according to the Associated Press.

"In fact, Congress is pretty strict on, um, export bans of oil and gas especially," she continued.

The AP reporter fact-checked the assertion:

No Alaska oil has been exported since 2004, and little if any since 2000, according to the Energy Information Administration and the Congressional Research Service.

And Congress has never imposed outright bans on oil exports. Congress prohibited exports of Alaska oil in 1973 when the Alaska oil pipeline was built. But that ban was lifted in 1996 when there were large volumes of Alaska oil coming down from the North Slope and U.S. demand was soft.

The Alaska ban has never been reinstated.

Though natural gas exports must be approved by the Energy Department, there isn't the same stipulation for oil. According to the Energy Information Administration, more than 95 million barrels of Alaskan oil -- or about 2.7 percent of the total produced in Alaska -- were exported between 1996 and 2004, the majority of it to South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. The EIA states that there have been no Alaskan oil exports since 2004, but that's not because of any congressional restriction on exports.

This isn't the first time that Palin has misstated the facts about Alaska and energy supplies. Last month, she claimed that Alaska provides "20 percent" of the nation's energy. In fact, it provides just 3.5 percent, and several fact-checking sites have since thoroughly debunked her claim. And the natural-gas pipeline she keeps touting as evidence of her success in energy policy? It only exists on paper, and the necessary federal approval is still years away.

Kate Sheppard is Grist’s political reporter.

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  1. josullivan58 Posted 11:46 pm
    10 Oct 2008

    Palin may mangle factsbut she has no problem using her power as mayor and governor for personal vendettas

    Alaska Inquiry Concludes Palin Abused Powers

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/politics/11trooper.h ...

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  2. estetikameliyat Posted 12:23 am
    11 Oct 2008

    PalinPalin initiated the project by giving $500 million in Alaska state funds to TransCanada Corp. for the pipeline. However, the Canadian energy company "is not obligated to build it" and has made no promises to do so. Moreover, some of Canada's native tribes must http://www.estetiks.com/     approve the deal and those who live along the pipeline's proposed route "complain they haven't been consulted about it and are threatening to sue unless they are compensated." One tribal representative has said that TransCanada http://www.estetikameliyat.com/     has "very much downplayed the extent of the legal difficulties they face in Canada." But Palin has asked Alaskans to pray for the pipeline to be built, which is perhaps what the McCain-Palin campaign website means when it says that "work has begun on a $40 billion natural gas pipeline."

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  3. Delay And Deny's avatar

    Delay And Deny Posted 3:40 am
    11 Oct 2008

    What?

    She said that no Alaska oil was going abroad.
    Then you say that's the truth.

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  4. Angelsnecropolis Posted 4:50 am
    11 Oct 2008

    @ JabailoNo Jabailo. Pay attention.
    They're disputing the statement that there is "some sort of congressional ban on oil exports" because Palin said there was a ban.
    They're stating Palin lied again. And she did. Alaska can still sell oil overseas if it wants to and the government isn't stopping them from doing so.

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  5. Sam Wells Posted 4:52 am
    11 Oct 2008

    Ah, crude oil versus "energy"Alaska used to produce maybe 20% of the US domestic crude oil production, 14% today, and that does not include the imports.  With imports, Alaska only provides about 4.8% of the crude oil to US refineries and end markets.
    Over the last ten years or so, Alaskan crude oil has fallen by about 60%.  California crude oil is way off of course.  The West Coast (PADD 5) now gets a substantial amount of crude and refined products from Canada, OPEC nations, and even the US Gulf (Houston mainly).  A pipeline from El Paso to Tuscon is the only other supply route I am aware of.  
    Interesting developments on the West Coast.  But anyone who confuses the word "energy" with crude oil processing ought to be spanked!

    -sammie

    Onward through the fog

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  6. Lisa Hymas's avatar

    Lisa Hymas Posted 6:33 am
    11 Oct 2008

    I don't know about spanking ...... but at least they ought not to become energy czar of the United States.  

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  7. GonzoDon Posted 6:06 am
    12 Oct 2008

    OK, butSince when has the Republican Party ever been concerned about the relevance of "facts"???
    They are all about emotion, fear, greed, bitterness, religious superstition, and persecution complexes.  But "facts"?  Give me a break.
    As Stephen Colbert points out, "facts have a notoriously liberal bias."

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  8. rrecroc Posted 6:07 am
    16 Oct 2008

    Sarah PalinI will vote democratic this time as usual, but the democratic candidate is not even a liberal let alone a progressive(Bush is so far to the right, he makes moderates look liberal).
    Sarah Palin is obviously not ready to be president.

    That is not to say without more experience, preparation and study, she cannot be in the future.
    I think she was probably as surprised when McCain picked her as the public was.
    Campaigning began immediately and she has had no time to study the campaign issues in any detail.
    Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I don't think she is lying in many cases, she just doesn't know.

    It is simple ignorance (which could be remedied if there were time). Sometimes, being able to say you don't know but will find out can save you lots of grief.
    This doesn't mean I particularly like her but I do believe the Republicans have given her a "script" to play from .....  

    "We Have Found the Enemy and It Is Us" ... Pogo

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  9. douglaso Posted 9:05 am
    16 Oct 2008

    Palin's liesThis is a woman who has no problem telling lies to further her career.Isn't it funny,the ease with which these self proclaimed Christians will lie to advance the causes of environmental destruction? Dominionists have no respect for nature and believe the earth was created basically for their exploitation.No, I see nothing attractive about the this person or her environmental record.She's an energy expert like I'm a energy expert.I use some of it every day.I ttry to use less,she wants to use more.

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