We told you we were skeptical.  We told you that your support is needed to bring about job creation through energy independence.  Sarah Palin’s recent Facebook post cites several articles indicating that the Department of the Interior is covering up data that would encourage oil exploration on the US continental shelf.

Mrs. Palin cites a post yesterday at Big Government revealing cover-ups by DOI officials.  We have reported that Secretary Salazar of the Department of the Interior had extended the comment period from 60 days to six months, yet now that the review period is (long since) over, its results have not been released.  Vince Haley’s Big Government post indicates that

Liz Birnbaum, director of the Minerals Management Service, informs other Interior officials that a preliminary tabulation of the results of the comment period had not yet gone to Secretary Salazar, adding “[s]o the Secretary can honestly say in response to any questions that he’s [SIC] has not yet seen the analysis of the comments – staff is still working on it. I did, however, confirm to him the 2-1 split that these guys [at American Solutions] are emphasizing.”

In an email from Ms. Birnbaum to staff, obtained by American Solutions through application of the Freedom of Information Act, she acknowledged that the Department had tabulated the results of the review period, and that the American public was in favor of moving forward with this exploration program by a 2 to 1 margin, yet she avoided providing that data to the Secretary so he could “honestly” reply to inquiries on the subject that he did not yet have the results.

We can only speculate that Ms. Birnbaum was not acting alone, and that she was following directives from the Secretary and the White House.

A Rasmussen poll from December showed that 68% of the American public wants to move forward with domestic drilling.  Twenty percent are opposed, and 12% are undecided.

This is an outrage!  We need the No Cost Stimulus Plan.  We need Ms. Birnbaum’s head, and Secretary Salazar’s, for that matter.

But most of all, we need the oil!