Garrett's Oily Gazette

Undaunted by the fact the head of the MTA shot down our Representative Scott Garrett about his plan to eliminate Federal oversight for our regional transportation needs, Garrett pressed his plan again in the latest Garrett Gazette.

In true to Garrett form, he's cited a study that I can't find. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means what I could find didn't match his numbers. Here's the statement:

I strongly believe that we need to develop our nation's current resources. We need to begin opening up our own fuel sources here in the U.S. and begin deep sea exploration. The Energy Information Administration estimates that untapped U.S. reserves would provide 1 million barrels per day for 30 years.

By Garrett's math, there would have to be 10.9 billion barrels of oil in untapped reserves (1 million x 365 x 30). However, the only number I could find from the EIA regarding non-production was 5.174 billion in proved non-producing reserves. So, pending a link being sent, Garrett's numbers seem to have been inflated 112%.

Garrett making up numbers and sources is nothing new. However, Garrett is also attempting to make it sound like this would really help.

Even if we fully tapped these reserves to get a million barrels a day, before they ran out in less than 14 years, we'd only be offsetting our imports by 7.4% per day if our consumption was not lowered significantly.

Another key example that Garrett is misrepresenting the truth was this statement:

And to make matters worse, our great state of New Jersey is one of the hardest hit states. For every gallon a gasoline attendant puts in your tank, you as a New Jersey resident will pay 18.2 cents in federal taxes.

We always rank among the 10 lowest states for average gas prices, often the lowest in the nation. It doesn't mean it's not high, but "one of the hardest hit states" is a ridiculous statement with no basis in fact. Juxtaposing it with the Federal gas tax to push his plan is nothing short of malicious misinformation.

If Garrett wants to push his plan, he should at least engage in an honest discussion with constituents. Similar to the SCHIP debate, without arguing from a position of honesty, we can't take any of his positions seriously.

The fact Garrett can't get a bill out of committee shows his colleagues feel the same way.