Who would you believe?

This past week on NPR, I heard a Republican congresswoman being interviewed. She asserted that drilling in Alaska and offshore would definitely reduce American gas prices and our dependence on foreign oil. At the same time, the interviewer had an economist from EcoNorthwest, a regional economic development firm, in the studio to interview on the same subject. He noted that the basis for one of her assertions was that "the drilling would increase US production by 50%" but that since our production is miniscule to start with increasing it by 50% would have no impact on world oil supplies and thus no effect on price, here or anywhere. He also noted that the idea that we could generate enough petroleum from domestic sources to cover US consumption was contradicted by economists who specialize in energy issues across the board. And he marveled that anyone could so boldly assert otherwise. Who do I believe? A politician or an economic specialist? Not so hard to figure. The show on NPR is created here in Oregon and is called Think Out Loud. I'm sure the episode is archived. I am astonished- totally- that people can say things that are just not true so brazenly.