Salazar in fantasy land

Mark Green:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar talked about a divide in America between the “real energy world and the imagined energy world” during a speech Tuesday in Washington. He’s got that right – but it’s not like the administration is on the right side of that divide. Consider:

• It dismisses calls for increased access, saying it takes years to develop oil and natural gas resources, and then takes credit for increased production.
• It says it wants more oil and natural gas when in reality its policies set back production in the all-important Gulf of Mexico and on federal western lands.
• It says 75 percent of America’s offshore resources are open for development when in reality 87 percent of areas are off-limits.
• It says oil and natural gas are the energy of the past even though they currently supply 62 percent of the energy we use and in 2035 will still supply about 60 percent.
• It repeatedly suggests that America is an energy pauper, when in reality the country hastremendous energy wealth, with ample supplies onshore and offshore.
• It claims the oil and natural gas industry doesn’t pay its fair share in taxes when in reality it sends $86 million a day to the U.S. Treasury in rents, royalties and income tax payments, and its companies rank 1-2-3 on Forbes’ recent list of those paying the most in income taxes. 

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What Salazar has been trying to do is use insults instead of logic to deal with arguemtns that have exposed how out of touch the administration's energy policies are.  The administration is on the wrong side of the voters on energy issues and the voters are not going to be persuaded by insults to their intelligence.