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Contact: MP Kaye - Stillwater
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Letter writers should check their facts
Stillwater Gazette,
Jul 9, 2008 -
A recent letter taking U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann to task for voodoo economics might require further investigation by the author.
Just having finished reading Thomas Sowell's book "Economic Facts and Fallacies," I would be remiss not to point out some of the fallacies of the author's critique.
In particular, the statement "we do not have reserves to replace imports" is indeed a fallacy. Without going to the North Slope, there exists a massive oil reserve just to our west in what is geologically referred to as the Bakken formation.
A U.S. geological survey has reported that the Bakken formation could hold more that 400 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
In addition, in the Prudhoe Bay area, the Kuparuk, Endicott, Point MacIntyre, Milne Point, and Niakuk fields offer an additional 30 or more billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Regarding rail transportation, again fallacies outnumber facts. Might I refer the author to a publication by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis entitled "Light Rail: Boom or Boondoggle?" by Molly D. Castelazo and Thomas A. Garrett.
It is good to offer critical analyses but before one offers a critique, they should check facts.
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