Scoring Romney & Obama's Disappointing Energy Debate | Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary

Scoring Romney & Obama's Disappointing Energy Debate | Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary: "While it's true that oil production on federal lands was down last year, that's largely due to the fallout from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf. Even so, oil production on federal lands is 11 percent greater this year than it was during the last year of the Bush administration. Permitting is down under Obama, but it's not because the administration has been rejecting permit applications. Over the entire course of the Obama administration, 93 percent of all permit applications have been approved. During the entire course of the Bush administration, 75 percent were approved. The drop in applications to drill on federal land is mainly driven by the fact that shale oil and gas is primarily found on private and state lands, not federal lands, and that's where all the action is at present."

"While his campaign documents claim that finishing the Keystone Pipeline would create 100,000 jobs, the only independent analysis of job creation persuasively finds that the actual totals are 4,650 temporary jobs and 50 permanent ones."