Blue science and red science

The amount of power produced by wind turbines has indeed doubled since Obama took office, from 52,000 gigawatt-hours in 2009 to 139,000 gigawatt-hours over the last 12 months. Net solar power generation rose to 2,400 gigawatt-hours from 900 gigawatt-hours in 2009. Since Americans consume 4 million gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, that means wind power contributed 3.5 percent and solar power less than 0.1 percent of the total.

What about Obama’s claim to have opened up millions of acres to hydrocarbon exploration? In its first three years, according to the Bureau of Land Management, the Bush administration leased 8.8 million acres for oil exploration and production, compared to 5.3 million for the first three years of the Obama administration. The Clinton administration leased 11.4 million acres in its first three years.

The Bush administration saw 9,276 new wells drilled in its first three years, compared to the 9,693 under the Obama administration. But 15,095 new wells began production as oil prices rose during the last three years of the Bush administration.

Regarding nuclear power, in 2010 the Obama administration proposed tripling federal loan guarantees for building new plants, from the Bush administration’s $18 billion to $54 billion.