No shortage of energy claims — true and otherwise

Like anyone living in a vehicle-reliant locale, we’re all well aware that the price of gas keeps going up, although even here in the Tennessee’s sub-tropical areas, we noticed drastically lower gas and electric bills because of the mild winter. This election season, the forecast is for a high-pressure front bringing a storm of claims about gas and energy — and nobody has a more sophisticated radar for detecting hot air than PolitiFact.

President Obama is trying to strike a chord with beleaguered drivers by reminding them how prosperous the oil companies are. His opponents are telling voters the president could be doing more to boost production and drive prices down.

This week at PolitiFact, we’re distilling a few of the claims from this gusher.

So far, we’ve rated a claim True that Exxon made $4.7 million an hour in profits last year. (Yes, you read that right.)

But we found another that Obama opposed oil exploration in Alaska only Half True.

And it’s Mostly True that the U.S. is producing 14 percent less oil off public lands than a year ago.

There’s more to come in the ever-popular gas price blame game, so stay tuned.