So yesterday, Governor Palin got to take question from a primarily friendly audience. She was asked how she would keep oil from new domestic drilling in the U.S. market. As this video from CNN shows, her answer is, to put it mildly, puzzling:
More below the fold.
Here is her answer
"Oil and coal? Of course, it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag, you know, the molecules, where it’s going and where it’s not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first," Palin said. "So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It’s got to flow into our domestic markets first."
Think Progress story on Palin's expertise.
What the hell is she saying here? Anybody? Bueller?
Look, I work in this indutry and I cannot make heads or tails of what she is saying, so this is not a case of her speaking over everyone's head, as may happen from a world-renowned expert in a given field. Nope this is pure unadulterated NONSENSE.
I am hoping for a Palin to English interpreter to step up to the plate. And here, hilzoy gives it a shot. Not that it helps any.
I'm not sure I fully grasp that, though I am relieved to know that they, whoever they are, don't have to sit around flagging individual molecules all day long. I think, despite her saying that Congress is "not going to allow the export bans", that she is actually recommending such a ban. At any rate, what she says makes a lot more sense on the assumption that either the 'not' or the 'bans' was a slip than it does on the assumption that she thought that lifting nonexistent export bans would keep our oil here at home.
Hilzoy then goes on to point out how we export our oil to Mexico, Canada and...that's it. Meanwhile, they send us eight and a half times more oil than we send them. How would they react to us not sending them any oil? Who knows, but then again who knows if that is even what she meant in the first place. The answer makes no sense.
In the clip Wolf then asks the reporter what exactly iks the basis of the claim of Palin being a world-class energy expert. Good for Wolf, because, while his voice is not dripping with derision, their is clearly a tone of extreme skepticism. And the reporter doesn't let her off the hook, describing
Well, Wolf, they base it on the fact that Alaska is a major contributor to the U.S.'s oil supply. But I have to point that Sarah Palin has had a few bloopers even on that point. On her two interviews....she has overstated Alaska's contibution to the US's energy supply. The bottom line is that Alaska is a leading producer of crude oil but very little natural gas and almost no coal or nuclear power comes from here.
McCain continually comes back to her energy expertise, famously saying she is the greatest energy expert on the planet. He cites it as a vital component of her foreign policy credentials. Yet, here she is, she cannot elaborate a simple policy position, she doesn't know facts which even the most cynical progressive would have assumed she would have known about her home state.
And she is running for the VICE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES!!
Shame on John McCain for foisting us with this option! Shame on John McCain for putting ambition before country with his right-wing pandering choice for Vice President!!
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!
UPDATE: FreeStateDem's comment inspired me to add this video for a bit of, err, contrast...