Arctic Oil Gets an Administration Gusher

An appropriately snarky column in WaPo:

Interior Secretary Gale Norton, campaigning to win oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, had the urgency of a saleswoman falling short of her monthly quota.

"ANWR would supply every drop of petroleum for Florida for 29 years," she told a friendly audience at the Heritage Foundation yesterday, "New York for 34 years, Illinois for 43 years, California for 16 years or New Hampshire for 315 years."

So how many years would ANWR's oil keep the whole country fueled up?

Norton balked at the question. "When you look at it for the whole country, you really get somewhat of a deceiving picture," the secretary answered. She said that's "not the way this operates," and said the question "assumes that unless a source of energy is going to meet all of America's needs then it's not worth looking at."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/12/AR2005121201401.html

"When you look at it for the whole country, you really get somewhat of a deceiving picture"

because it's only enough oil to last the *whole* country a year???? Yeah, I'm pretty deceived by that.... :sarcasm: By the way, why would Florida have 29 years of oil and New York would have 34 years? I would make the assumption that due to the weather, NY would use more oil. Sounds to me someone was just throwing out numbers off the top of their head.

Recommended!

Dap

how much would CAFE have to be raised to offset the oil under ANWR

Restore the national 55 MPH speed limit to save ANWR

http://drive55.org

"For the record, ANWR's oil, using the administration's own estimates, would supply the whole country for 13 to 17 months before it runs out. But Norton's argument -- that it is acceptable to promise New Hampshire oil for three centuries but "deceiving" to ask about the whole country -- underscored the tension gripping ANWR-drilling proponents as Congress approaches another climactic decision on the Alaskan refuge this week.

In the afternoon, it was Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's turn. At a news conference at the National Press Club, Chao told the cameras that, according to "congressional estimates," the ANWR project could create a million jobs.

A million jobs? Chao repeated the forecast to incredulous reporters after the event. "Congress has made estimates that about a million people will be involved," she affirmed. Is that over the life of the project? "I don't think so," Chao said. "That's probably over a year or so."

A million jobs in one year would be so compelling that even environmental groups might be willing to chase the caribou out of ANWR. But Chao was a bit off. The Congressional Research Service, to which Chao directed reporters, put the job growth in the range of 86,000 to 245,000. The million-job forecast, it turns out, is not from Congress but from a conservative think tank and was based on a far larger project than the ANWR drilling."


That about sums up my thoughts. Read the article before posting if you can, it's a laugh.

Dap

Why is it taking sooo long for everyone else to see it??!

falling short on her quota..."

LOL!

This story nails it. It's more about politics and political ideology than meeting the US energy needs. Its very telling that Norton and Chao received such a tepid response from the Heritage Foundation.

I don't use much.

It's a realistic number. Those state-by-state figures can be deceiving.

--p!