It's fun to watch politicians sling evidence at each other. As reported in the Oil & Gas Journal, the "US House Natural Resources Committee's minority staff released its own report on Oct. 9 challenging one which the majority staff issued six months ago which has been the basis of many 2008 Democratic candidates' energy stands." The report (47-page pdf) is titled Drilling for Truth and Coming Up Empty. (Here's a 7-page pdf Executive Summary.) I'll give the House minority credit for identifying specific claims and offering evidence to counter them -- here's an example:
The Republican minority issued a press release saying the report "highlights numerous flaws and major inaccuracies in the Majority energy report that has become the guideline for the Majority’s opposition to addressing [sic] the nation's energy crisis." They say their findings are "based on factual information" and energy data from federal agencies including Energy, Interior, Minerals Management Service, and Bureau of Land Management. "The Majority’s report included unsupported and undocumented extrapolations regarding the oil and gas resources contained within the non-producing acres under lease, and illustrates a lack of knowledge about the onshore and offshore leasing process; the costs to the lessee to acquire the lease or leases; the nature of oil and gas deposits; and, the time required to explore, and if a discovery is made, develop a lease."
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