Palin, ANWR And Slippery Oil Exploration Data

I heard GOP vice-presidential designee Sarah Palin the other day trot out one of the great statistical myths and rationalizations for drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) - -that a mere 2,000 acres are involved out of millions.

True, and false.

Yes, true, that drilling is limited to 2,000 acres - - but classic Congressional legalese raises this question:

In this case, what's an acre?

In getting to 2,000 acres, only the actual land on which a drilling platform sits is in the count.

Not included: the roads connecting the platforms or the land over which a vast pipeline network will extend - - except those few square feet accounted for by pipeline supports.

An explanation is here from Time magazine.

Below is the key clarification that Palin and other would-be ANWR desecrators paper over:

"Turns out the 2,000 acres don't have to be contiguous and only the space of the equipment touching the ground is counted. Each drilling platform can take up as little as 10 acres. The pipelines are above ground. For space purposes, the amendment counts only the ground touched by the stanchions holding up the pipe. Road widths also are conveniently left out of the space limit."

Will The Straight Talk Express slow down enough to be honest about ANWR drilling, which McCain has opposed - - though these days, his campaign has been more of a Panderemic.