Knee-jerk Ignorance

© Raging Red 2008 (http://ragingred.wordpress.com)

I understand the impulse to defend your preferred candidate and attack the opposing candidate in a knee-jerk fashion.  I can’t deny that I have those immediate reactions to Obama and McCain.  But after that impulsive, knee-jerk reaction, the responsible thing to do is engage in a bit of self-examination and maybe a little research to figure out whether that reaction is warranted.  Where the hell am I going with this?

I understand why Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Don Surber would have an immediate negative reaction to Barack Obama’s statement that if Americans properly inflated our car tires and got regular tune-ups, it would save as much oil as would be produced if the ban on offshore drilling were lifted.  I’m sure that sounds counterintuitive to a lot of people, especially to those who are predisposed to disbelieve or mistrust everything Obama says.  It makes sense that their knee-jerk reaction would be to mock Obama.  (Click those links above to hear/read their rants.)  But did it ever occur to any of them to check into whether Obama’s statement might actually be true?

I know that the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Surber aren’t going to make an honest effort to find out.  Those guys inexplicably think they know better than the experts in whatever field it is they’re spouting off about on any given day.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the so-called liberal media will bother to do any fact-checking either.

CNN reports today:

McCain’s campaign made fun of Obama’s energy proposal Monday by distributing tire pressure gauges to McCain’s traveling press corps.

The gag was meant to mock Obama’s remark last week that “making sure your tires are properly inflated” could help conserve gasoline.

Before departing for Pennsylvania, Mark Salter, a top McCain adviser, told the press on board McCain’s plane that campaign staffers had brought along copies of Obama’s energy plan for reporters to study on the flight.

After takeoff, Salter re-emerged with his punch line, passing out the pressure gauges reading “Obama’s energy plan” to the journalists on the flight.

The Republican National Committee said McCain supporters in Michigan were planning to distribute the same gauges at Obama’s energy speech in Lansing today.

Ho ho.  Hilarious.  Trouble is, Obama’s statement IS true.  Here’s what Obama said:

We could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling if everybody was just inflating their tires and getting regular tune-ups. You could save just as much.

And here are the facts, as derived from President Bush’s own Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency.  How much oil could Americans save if we all took measures like properly inflating our tires, getting regular tune-ups, regularly changing our air filters, and driving more efficiently?  The answer:

Using current numbers from the Bush DOE and EPA , the answer appears to be some 2.5 to 3 million barrels a day — 20 times what could be found if we ended the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling (see “The cruel offshore-drilling hoax“) and three times the oil we are likely to find in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (see “Opening ANWR cuts gas prices two cents in 2025“).

Counterintuitive as it may seem to some people, it is true that taking simple steps to improve gas mileage translates to a reduction in oil consumption that exceeds the amount of oil that could be produced by lifting the ban on offshore drilling (or opening ANWR to drilling).

Also, of course, the implication being made by those who are mocking Obama is that his only plan is for Americans to properly inflate our tires and get regular tune-ups when in reality, he has a comprehensive energy plan.

I’ll forgive people their knee-jerk reactions, but not their insistence on sticking their heads in the sand and denying reality.