During the September 15 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough uncritically aired video of Sen. John McCain falsely claiming that Sarah Palin is “governor of a state that 20 percent of our America's energy supply comes from.” McCain cited the statistic as purported evidence that Palin “knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America.” However, as FactCheck.org has noted, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), “Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production. And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only '2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes.' " Neither Brzezinski nor Scarborough corrected McCain's false claim.

In a September 12 article, FactCheck.org noted that Palin and McCain each put forth the false 20 percent statistic in separate interviews with ABC News' Charles Gibson, and that “McCain repeated the false figure more recently, in a September 11 interview with Portland, Maine, news station WCSH6." The McCain clip that Brzezinski and Scarborough aired was from that September 11 interview. FactCheck.org further wrote that it is “simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. 'energy supply' ”:

It's simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. “energy supply,” a term that is generally defined as energy consumed. That category includes power produced in the U.S. by nuclear, coal, hydroelectric dams and other means -- as well as all the oil imported into the country.

Palin would have been correct to say that Alaska produces just over 14 percent of all the oil produced in the U.S., leaving out imports and leaving out other forms of power. According to the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Alaskan wells produced 263.6 million barrels of oil in 2007, or 14.3 percent of the total U.S. production of 1.8 billion barrels.

But Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007, counting both domestic production and imports from other nations. According to EIA, the total supply was just over 5.5 billion barrels in 2007.

Furthermore, Palin said “energy,” not “oil,” so she was actually much further off the mark. According to EIA, Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production.

And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only “2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes.”

[...]

McCain repeated the false figure more recently, in a September 11 interview with Portland, Maine, news station WCSH6.

Footnote: When we asked the McCain campaign where the 20 percent figure came from, we were referred to the Web site of the Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc, a group that says it promotes development of Alaska's natural resources. It states:

Alaska Resource Development Council: Alaska's oil and gas industry has produced more than 16 billion barrels of oil and 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, accounting for an average of 20 percent of the entire nation's domestic production.

This falls far short of supporting Palin's sweeping claim, however. It refers only to “oil and gas” production, not total energy. It refers only to production, not total consumption or supply. And the 20 percent figure is an “average” over many years, though the site does not say exactly how many. That makes it very much out of date, because Alaskan oil production has declined sharply in recent years. According to EIA figures Alaskan oil production has dropped 22 percent in the most recent five years alone.

From the September 15 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

BRZEZINSKI: You can look at her experience and look at his answer to the question of her experience, and I think that was very telling. Shall we show our viewers? This is John McCain talking to a local affiliate in Maine about Sarah Palin's experience. You might want to hear it.

SCARBOROUGH: Oh, sure. Sure.

BRZEZINSKI: Here it is.

[begin video clip]

ROB CALDWELL (WCSH6 anchor): Well, you say you're sure she has the experience, but again I'm just asking for an example.

McCAIN: Sure.

CALDWELL: What experience --

McCAIN: Sure.

CALDWELL: -- does she have in the field of national security?

McCAIN: Energy. She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America. She represents -- is the governor of a state that 20 percent of our America's energy supply comes from there, and we all know that energy is a critical and vital national security issue. ... She happens to also represent -- a -- be governor of a state that's right next to Russia. She understands Russia and their newly aggressive behavior in the world, which is also something we have to be very concerned about.

[end video clip]

SCARBOROUGH: What do you think, Mika?

BRZEZINSKI: I think the fair question is we need to hear more, 'cause it doesn't tell me much and nor did the interview with ABC tell me much about her worldview and her depth on national security.

SCARBOROUGH: Do you know what I think?

BRZEZINSKI: I'm not saying she doesn't. I'm saying there are a lot of really good important questions that should be asked. What do you think?

SCARBOROUGH: Let the media ask those if you want --

BRZEZINSKI: We should.

SCARBOROUGH: -- but if you're Barack Obama --

BRZEZINSKI: Exactly.

SCARBOROUGH: -- you want the media to ask John McCain questions. You want to ask: Why are you for a tax cut that you were against? Why have you received all of this money from the same special interests you claim you want -- I mean, that's the thing -- he has to stay focused on McCain and I think they're doing it.