Obama Doubles Down

Barack Obama has obviously been stung by ridicule of his claim that properly inflating our tires would save energy equal to “all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling.” I showed the falsity of this claim here and here. Now, instead of absorbing the hit and moving on, Obama stubbornly clings to the claim that he was right about tire inflation all along. In fact, he is now compounding his original error.

Yesterday in Berea, Ohio, Obama said:

So now the Republicans are going around – this is the kind of thing they do. I don’t understand it! Theyre going around, they’re sending like little tire gauges, making fun of this idea as if this is ‘Barack Obama’s energy plan.’

Now two points, one, they know they’re lying about what my energy plan is, but the other thing is they’re making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4 percent. Its like these guys take pride in being ignorant.

You know, they think it is funny that they are making fun of something that is actually true. They need to do their homework.

Two points: First, even if Obama’s “3 to 4 percent” claim about tire inflation were true, it would not validate his original assertion that proper inflation would equal “all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling.” That assertion was, and remains, false.

Second, Obama’s claim that “every expert” says that tire inflation would “reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4 percent” is ridiculous. No expert says any such thing. What experts do say is that properly inflated tires can improve gas mileage by approximately 3 percent compared to grossly underinflated tires. But since most people know this and inflate their tires, the actual potential savings is some much smaller amount. Moreover, the U.S. consumes around 20.7 million barrels of petroleum per day. Only about 9.3 million barrels per day are used in motor vehicles. So a 3 percent improvement in automobile mileage would correspond, at best, to a 1.3 percent reduction in total oil consumption.

Barack Obama’s ignorance on the subject of energy is remarkable.

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