Drill Baby Drill!

I saw the following in the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pennsylvania). At a rally in Wisconsin, everyone's favorite journalist Sarah Palin (McCain's "energy expert") got some major facts wrong about her state's oil output. She's not just a regular gal; she's the Governor of Alaska. She really should know these things.

The reality is that there is no state that eats up more of Alaska's oil than mine - and I know everyone in America always wants to do what they can to make the lives of Californians better. In fact, we Californians suck up the biggest chunk of Alaska's production of any state (including Alaska), fully 41% of the oil they pull out of
the ground up there. And thank heavens we have John McCain and Sarah Palin to fight for us by opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge! So drill baby drill, because we Californians need that gas to drive around Hollywood and San Francisco in our SUVs drinking latte. The hell with you people in the Midwest!

In reality, opening up protected lands wouldn't do anything to lower anybody's price at the pump. What it WOULD do is enrich a few oilmen, and take yet another public land away from hunters, fishermen, hikers and climbers, and every other American that pays taxes to protect and preserve these places.

It's worth pointing out that when I was back east in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, the price for a gallon of 87 was running in the high $3.50's, and at home in California it was in the high $3.60's. A year ago and before the spread was typically a dollar or more.

(Sources for statistics: here and here)