A day after I wondered with tongue planted firmly in cheek if I’d intimidated Mr. Tinklenberg, Tanner posted an LTE from DFL candidate for governor Susan Gaertner in today’s St. Cloud Times. It’s curious that Ms. Gaertner only mentioned that she’s the Ramsey county attorney. Why didn’t she mention that she’s a DFL candidate for governor? But that’s just a side issue. The issue that deserves our undivided attention is that Ms. Gaertner is making some irresponsible statements. Here’s what she said:

The congresswoman’s plan, announced a couple weeks ago, was simple: Drill. Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, drill in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the inner shelf, the outer shelf, the Gulf of Mexico, and in Lake Mille Lacs. (Just kidding about that last one.)

Ms. Gaertner’s invectives aside, the truth is that this characterization isn’t accurate. Perhaps Ms. Gaertner wasn’t paying attention to Rep. Bachmann’s recent statement that she supports the tax credits for alternative energy development. I hope at some point she’ll take notice of the American Energy Act, which Minority Leader John Boehner has introduced. Here’s a summary of what’s included in the America Energy Act:

To increase the supply American-made energy in environmentally sound ways, the legislation will:

• Open our deep water ocean resources, which will provide an additional three million barrels of oil per day, as well as 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as proposed in H.R. 6108 by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC). Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) has also worked tirelessly on this issue.
• Open the Arctic coastal plain, which will provide an additional one million barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6107 by Rep. Don Young (R-AK);
• Allow development of our nation’s shale oil resources, which could provide an additional 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6138 by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI); and
• Increase the supply of gas at the pump by cutting bureaucratic red tape that essentially blocks construction of new refineries, as proposed in H.R. 6139 by Reps. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Joe Pitts (R-PA).

To improve energy conservation and efficiency, the legislation will:

• Provide tax incentives for businesses and families that purchase more fuel efficient vehicles, as proposed in H.R. 1618 and H.R. 765 by Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Jerry Weller (R-IL);
• Provide a monetary prize for developing the first economically feasible, super-fuel-efficient vehicle reaching 100 miles-per-gallon, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT); and
• Provide tax incentives for businesses and homeowners who improve their energy efficiency, as proposed in H.R. 5984 by Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Phil English (R-PA), and Zach Wamp (R-TN), and in H.R. 778 by Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL).

To promote renewable and alternative energy technologies, the legislation will:

• Spur the development of alternative fuels through government contracting by repealing the “Section 526” prohibition on government purchasing of alternative energy and promoting coal-to-liquids technology, as proposed in H.R. 5656 by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), in H.R. 6384 by Rob Bishop (R-UT), and in H.R. 2208 by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL);
• Establish a renewable energy trust fund using revenues generated by exploration in the deep ocean and on the Arctic coastal plain, as proposed by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA);
• Permanently extend the tax credit for alternative energy production, including wind, solar and hydrogen, as proposed in H.R. 2652 by Rep. Phil English (R-PA) and in H.R. 5984 by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD); and
• Eliminate barriers to the expansion of emission-free nuclear power production, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT).

What part of this doesn’t Ms. Gaertner and Mr. Tinklenberg understand? Does this sound like a drill only plan? The least Ms. Gaertner can do is get her facts straight. What’s worse is that I have to roll my eyes when she makes this statement:

While the congresswoman may believe she is right, the sad truth is that after 24 years as a prosecutor I know deception when I see it. It doesn’t take much investigation into the facts before one starts to wonder what she was thinking.

In March, the Bush Administration’s Energy Information Administration issued a report that said even if ANWR was opened to drilling, it would be at least five years before the oil would begin flowing and 17 years before it could reach its peak flow. In addition, the EIA report said the projected amounts of oil produced from ANWR at peak would only reduce United States imports of oil by 4 percent and have little impact on the price of a barrel of oil.

It’s interesting that Ms. Gaertner and other liberals only cite the EIA’s analysis. Isn’t it curious that Ms. Gaertner thinks that a group of government bureaucrats know more about commodity markets than do market experts? Why haven’t they considered the possibility that the oil companies’ experts might know more than a lifetime bureaucrat? Hasn’t Ms. Gaertner considered the possibility that Wall Street experts might offer a different, more qualified opinion than a lifetime bureaucrat?

What has Ms. Gaertner spotted that tells her that Rep. Bachmann is being deceptive? If she’s basing that opinion on the EIA’s report, isn’t that flimsy analysis? Shouldn’t she have considered more than just that perspective?

It wouldn’t surprise me if this is just Ms. Gaertner repaying a political favor to Mr. Tinklenberg. It wouldn’t surprise me if this is just Ms. Gaertner taking a shot at Rep. Bachmann. If it’s just playing politics, that’s fine. Like Rep. Bachmann likes to say, she can take it because she’s got a “titanium spine.” It’ll take alot more than just a few unsubstantiated cheapshots like that to throw Rep. Bachmann off her stride.

Does it matter to Bachmann that Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and the GOP’s presidential candidate Sen. John McCain oppose drilling in ANWR?

I can’t hold this one against Ms. Gaertner because it wasn’t until this afternoon that Sen. McCain said that, though he didn’t like the option of drilling in ANWR, he’d keep it on the table because of the high price of gas.

And what about the Texas oilman and billionaire Republican T. Boone Pickens who labeled his party’s claim that we can drill our way to lower gas prices “totally misleading?”

I wonder what Ms. Gaertner would say if she saw this video:

Here’s the transcript of what Mr. Pickens said:

Offshore OCS drilling. ANWR drilling. Yes, all of it. I want to get off of foreign oil. Ok. McCain says ok off the east & west coast. I say east & west coast & ANWR. Get it all. I mean get off of foreign oil. That is the enemy. Get everything you can get. You cannnot drill your way out of it but you’re drilling & whatever you do find & put into the domestic system will help us.

I wonder what Ms. Gaertner’s reaction to Mr. Pickens’ statements would be. I’ll bet she’d conclude her LTE would be different than this:

I take offense when a politician proposes a solution that is essentially a cruel hoax perpetrated on a constituency that is experiencing the agony of $4 gas and soon expecting further anguish when they have to turn on the heat this winter.

But, as I said, maybe she really believes it. But given the lack of facts to back up her claim, it seems reasonable to question how she can.

Personally, Ms. Gaertner, I take offense when hired guns shoot their mouth off without doing the proper amount of research. I’m being charitable in saying that Ms. Gaertner’s LTE is sloppily-researched. Mostly, it’s just the environutters’ talking points.

I’d suggest to the people at Mr. Tinklenberg’s blog to research things better before hitching their wagons to such sloppily-written stuff.

UPDATE: Commenter Jeo left this important tidbit of information:

She [Ms. Gaertner] is the wife of Tinklenberg’s press consultant, John Wodele. Can’t believe you left that one out…that’s more disturbing then leaving out whether or not she’s one of 10 DFLers running for Governor 2+ years from now.

Had I known that connection, I would’ve highlighted it. Thanks for the information.

Technorati: Gas Crisis, El Tinklenberg, Susan Gaertner, Blogging, Environutters, John McCain, John Boehner, Michele Bachmann, Norm Coleman, T. Boon Pickens, American Energy Act, ANWR, OCS, Election 2008