President Barack Obama has been touting energy reform during the long road to November.
"We have doubled our use of renewable energy, and thousands of Americans have jobs today building wind turbines and long-lasting batteries," he said during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in early September.
And he's repeated the remarks at stops in Florida, Colorado and Nevada.
It's a nice campaign statement, but it's a stretch of the truth. Only wind and solar power have doubled, but total renewable energy is far from doubling on his watch. And that reality earns the president the Whopper of the Week, a distinction given by the Washington Guardian to call attention to misleading comments from political leaders.
According to information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind and solar power have doubled since Obama came into office. Wind went from 55.4 million megawatthours in 2008 to 119.7 million in 2011. Meanwhile, solar went from 864,000 megawatthours in 2008 to 1.8 million in 2011.
The president is correct in that regard, but it only presents part of the picture. Renewable energy accounts for just nine percent of the nation's energy consumption, a rise of only two points since Obama took office.
If nuclear power is added into the picture, then renewable energy accounts for just more than 17 percent of all energy consumption, which is, again, only a two point increase since Obama took office. The reliance on nuclear power has actually fallen slightly, likely in response to concerns after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Plus, wind and solar power aren't the largest sources of renewable energy in the U.S. That distinction falls to biomass fuels and hydropower, both of which have had a slower rate of growth than solar and wind, according to EIA.
Read more: http://www.washingtonguardian.com/green-gullibility
"We have doubled our use of renewable energy, and thousands of Americans have jobs today building wind turbines and long-lasting batteries," he said during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in early September.
And he's repeated the remarks at stops in Florida, Colorado and Nevada.
It's a nice campaign statement, but it's a stretch of the truth. Only wind and solar power have doubled, but total renewable energy is far from doubling on his watch. And that reality earns the president the Whopper of the Week, a distinction given by the Washington Guardian to call attention to misleading comments from political leaders.
According to information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind and solar power have doubled since Obama came into office. Wind went from 55.4 million megawatthours in 2008 to 119.7 million in 2011. Meanwhile, solar went from 864,000 megawatthours in 2008 to 1.8 million in 2011.
The president is correct in that regard, but it only presents part of the picture. Renewable energy accounts for just nine percent of the nation's energy consumption, a rise of only two points since Obama took office.
If nuclear power is added into the picture, then renewable energy accounts for just more than 17 percent of all energy consumption, which is, again, only a two point increase since Obama took office. The reliance on nuclear power has actually fallen slightly, likely in response to concerns after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Plus, wind and solar power aren't the largest sources of renewable energy in the U.S. That distinction falls to biomass fuels and hydropower, both of which have had a slower rate of growth than solar and wind, according to EIA.
Read more: http://www.washingtonguardian.com/green-gullibility
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