A Romney administration would create 3 million new energy jobs — but then, so would yours

Mitt Romney wants you to know that he will create 12 million new jobs if he’s elected president.

His argument starts with this:

First, my energy independence policy means more than 3 million new jobs, many of them in manufacturing.

(In case you missed it, here’s Romney’s “energy independence” policy, which doesn’t actually claim American energy independence.)

So what about that claim of 3 million new jobs in energy? He’d approve the Keystone pipeline, which would be about 6,000 jobs. So where do those other 2,994,000 jobs come from?

Here’s the Washington Post:

As we have noted before, the 12 million figure is not a bad bet by Romney. Moody’s Analytics, in an August forecast, predicts 12 million jobs will be created by 2016, no matter who is president. And Macroeconomic Advisors in April also predicted a gain of 12.3 million jobs. …

The rest of the numbers are even more squishy.

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For instance, the 3-million-job claim for Romney’s energy policies appears largely based on a Citigroup Global Markets study [PDF] that did not even evaluate Romney’s policies. Instead, the report predicted 2.7 million to 3.6 million jobs would be created over the next eight years, largely because of trends and policies already adopted — including tougher fuel efficiency standards that Romney has criticized and suggested he would reverse.

In other words, Mitt Romney can safely argue that 3 million new jobs in energy would be created during his tenure simply by his sitting at his desk in the Oval Office.

Which I could also do. So I am proud to today announce my write-in candidacy for the presidency of the United States. My energy independence policy will create 3 million new jobs, according to independent experts.

Well, 2,994,000 jobs. I’m still not going to approve Keystone.