Fact Check: McCain-Palin energy figure inflated

Fact Check: McCain-Palin energy figure inflated
Associated Press - September 16, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, Alaska's governor, say her state's production of one-fifth of the country's domestic energy supply is an important credential to put them in the White House. Their figure is inflated.

THE SPIN: Palin and the McCain campaign repeatedly have claimed her status as governor of an energy-producing state as a national security credential, most recently in the interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson. But Palin has been sloppy in how she states her argument that Alaska is a major player in the energy market.

In the interview, she claimed the state "produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." McCain, too, has said Palin is "in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply." More recently, Palin modified her claim to "20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of oil and gas."

THE FACTS: The statements are exaggerated, some wildly so, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The most recent figures show Alaska produced 3.4 percent of the nation's total energy output in 2005. The state's largest contribution to that figure was its oil production, which runs about 14 percent of the U.S. total. Alaska contributes about 2 percent of the nation's natural gas production. It produces negligible amounts of coal and renewable energy, and has no nuclear energy...

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Fact Check: McCain-Palin energy figure inflated