The power of fact-checking
ABC recently partnered up with Politifact to provide some accountability for the guests on ABC This Week. This past Sunday, the fact checkers turned their guns on ABC’s pundits — but there’s no question the pundits asked for it.
When George Will challenged Bill Maher’s contention that Brazil “got off oil in the last 30 years”, Maher asked the fact checkers to step in. Here’s the exchange:
WILL: I’d like to go back to Bill. Could you just explain to me in what sense Brazil got off oil?
MAHER: I believe they did. I believe they, in the ’70s, they had a program to use sugarcane ethanol. And I believe that is what fuels their country.
WILL: I think they still burn a lot of oil and have a lot of it offshore.
VANDEN HEUVEL: But, George, you’re a man who understands there are always alternatives in politics and in science. We can — you know, why should we be relying on what we are now seeing the risks of?…
MAHER: And could we have judges fact-check this on Brazil? I don’t know…
Result: Maher is wrong:
Even though Brazil aggressively uses biofuels, and invests quite a bit in hydroelectric power, it still produces and consumes a lot of oil.
In 2008, Brazil ranked No. 7 on the list of the world’s countries that consume the most oil, using about 2.5 million barrels per day. In first place was the United States at 19.5 million barrels per day, followed by China, Japan, India, Russia, and Germany, according to the Energy Information Administration.
It’s interesting how talking points take on a life of their own. If memory serves, Brazil became a big topic of discussion in the summer of 2008, when gas hit $4 a gallon. Alternative energy fans talked extensively about Brazil’s strategy for energy independence, which replaced imported oil — not all oil — with ethanol. Of course, Brazil has also embraced the Sarah Palin strategy of “Drill, baby, drill”, making major discoveries off the coast.
Maher seemed to have hazy memories of Brazil’s moment in the sun, then imagined the facts necessary to support his argument on Sunday. Although it’s fun to pick on Maher, the real point here is about the importance of talking heads having to contend with the fact-checkers. The quality of debate will rise if the debaters know they are accountable.