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Beneath the lush, green hills of eastern Utah's Uinta Basin, where elk, bear and bison outnumber people, the soil is saturated with a sticky tar that may soon provide a new domestic source of petroleum for the United States. It would be a first-of-its kind project in the country that some fear could be a slippery slope toward widespread wilderness destruction. With crude prices surging beyond $100 a barrel, and politicians preaching the need to reduce America's reliance on foreign supplies, companies are now looking for more local sources. One Canadian firm says it's found it in the tar sands...

President Obama won't allow radioactive waste to be buried at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, rejecting the long-controversial project after 20 years of planning at a cost of at least $9 billion. Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu "have been emphatic that nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain is not an option, period," said department spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller. The budget plan Obama released yesterday "clearly reflects that commitment," she said. "The new administration is starting the process of finding a better solution for management of our nuclear waste," she said in an e-mail. The decision leaves unresolved a long-term plan for...

At the core of the Obama policy is a proposal to tax American oil companies and use the proceeds to fund a variety of initiatives, including a $500 rebate to every adult in the nation to help him or her to make ends meet in the face of high oil prices. This generous program would cost about $100 billion. Since the U.S. oil industry produces about 3 billion barrels per year, this translates into a tax of about $33 on every barrel produced in America, while leaving the 5 billion barrels per year of imported foreign oil untaxed. As a...

great rope line video from Joe Biden's recent Ohio swing, where he was asked by an anti-pollution campaigner about clean coal -- a controversial approach in Democratic circles for which Obama has voiced support, particularly during the Kentucky primary. Biden's apparent answer: He supports clean coal for China, but not for the United States. "No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there. Make them clean." "We’re not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama. They do, on paper, support clean coal. The answer seems to play into John...

Barack Obama received many ovations during his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in Denver. Perhaps the most enthusiastic applause from the crowd of 84,000 came after the senator from Illinois declared: "And for the sake of our economy, our security and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East." Excuse us for sitting on our hands, but Obama's claims about energy just don't add up. Of course, that means he is no different from any other Washington politico. But...

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama has made his economic thinking excruciatingly clear, so it also is clear that his running mate should have been not Joe Biden, but Rumpelstiltskin. He spun straw into gold, a skill an Obama administration will need in order to fulfill its fairy-tale promises. Obama recently said he would "require that 10 percent of our energy comes from renewable sources by the end of my first term -- more than double what we have now." Note the verb "require" and the adjective "renewable." By 2012 he would "require" the economy's huge energy sector to -- here things...

Clinton's plan would be paid for by rolling back $30 billion of tax breaks over a ten-year period, and her Windfall Profits Tax would raise $20 billion over a ten year period. At the time of the primaries this sounded like a large amount, but today it pales in comparison to Obama's suggestions. Obama's energy plan calls for a $500 immediate energy rebate costing (by his own figures) $75 billion dollars, plus a ten-year, $150 billion, investment into alternative energies. He would pay for the plan through a roll back of $30 billion in tax breaks over ten years, along...

Remember the good old days when Barack Obama was campaigning for president on the vacuous pledges of hope and change without saying exactly what changes we should hope for? Well, now he's beginning to fill in the blanks with actual policy proposals, and it's becoming clearer by the minute that vacuous was better. For starters, there's his comprehensive plan to control global warming and gain energy independence through a bureaucratic nightmare of controls, technological razzle-dazzle, discredited biofuel reliance and spending you wouldn't believe. In just a couple of decades, our oil consumption will be down 35 percent, he says, but...

Just look at the legislation Obama has introduced in the Senate. The Oil SENSE Act, S. 115, would repeal the authorization in the 2005 Energy Policy Act for the Interior Department to study and inventory how much oil might be available under America's Outer Continental Shelf. Moreover, the bill would prohibit expanded use of 3-D seismic technology to locate and measure offshore oil deposits, even by the oil companies. As columnist Deroy Murdock explains, "Obama's Don't Ask, Don't Drill policy spurns [modern technology] and embraces outdated information gathered with obsolete instruments. This is the audacity of ignorance."

Csaba is the Editor-In-Chief for Car & Driver magazine. Many of the "car guys" (and women) here will recognize his name. He pretty well rips up the Obama nonsense.

Still, it was probably too much to assume every Republican would work out that their side was winning this issue. And so, last Friday, in stumbled Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker and Johnny Isakson -- alongside five Senate Democrats. This "Gang of 10" announced a "sweeping" and "bipartisan" energy plan to break Washington's energy "stalemate." What they did was throw every vulnerable Democrat, and Mr. Obama, a life preserver.

Any relief from Mr. Obama's plan would be temporary while compromising a reserve intended to protect against disruptions in supply caused by wars, boycotts and the like. Making Exxon surrender money that is now falling into its lap would not necessarily affect its longer-term plans or incentives. Indeed, some of Big Oil's "windfall" already will go to the government: The more profit the companies earn, the more corporate income tax they pay. But to add a five-year tax increase on top of that to pay for a one-year gift to voters would, indeed, increase the cost of doing business. That...

Obama did recently claim that he was open to drilling as part of an energy plan. But his actual plan seems to leave this out. It also leaves out nuclear energy, but uses tax dollars to subsidize alternatives that have not proven to be effective. See the video here.

BEREA, Ohio (CNN) – For almost a week, John McCain and his campaign have been mocking Barack Obama’s comments to a voter last week in Missouri when he told her to one way to conserve energy is “making sure your tires are properly inflated.” On Monday a top McCain advisor passed around tire gauges labeled “Obama’s Energy Plan” to reporters on the Arizona senator’s campaign plane — and the Republican National Committee says more are waiting for the Obama traveling press corps at Tuesday night’s hotel. Obama shot back at a town hall in Ohio Tuesday afternoon, accusing them of...

Fallout from The Energy Policy Act of 2005 by Diane M. Grassi, Featured Writer February 26, 2008 “Energy independence from foreign sources.” A mantra repeated over and over again by Al Gore, by the Hollywood elite and by candidates running for the 2008 Presidential nomination. But rarely is it ever pointed out how this phrase is but an oxymoron with respect to United States energy policy, which becomes ever more vulnerable, not just as the result of its failing infrastructure, but from misguided public policy decisions. And never is the topic broached publicly in how much of the US energy...

Do Something NOW! Let Senators Bingaman and Domenici know you want them to pass the American Energy Production Act out of committee for a full vote on the floor of the United States Senate! Below is a suggested message to send. Feel free to copy and paste and add any personal comment! Contact Senator Pete Domenici (opens in new window) | (202) 224-6621 Dear Senator Domenici,Please pass The American Energy Production Act, Senate Bill 2958, out of committee for a vote on the floor of the United States Senate. Contact Senator Jeff Bingaman (opens in new window) | (202) 224-5521...

WASHINGTON -- Have you noticed that ever since the Democrats took control of Congress, oil and gas prices have been going through the roof? The Dems won control of the House and Senate last year in part on the notion that sinking billions of taxpayer dollars into corn-based ethanol would combat global warming; itself a dubious superstition that some scientists say is part of the Earth's natural environmental changes over many eons. Among the predictable results: increased gas prices because of higher refinery costs to blend ethanol into petroleum-based fuel, and higher grain and food prices because the government-induced demand...

I was watching the Big Oil execs testifying before Congress. That was my first mistake. If memory serves, there was lesbian mud wrestling over on Channel 137, and on the whole that's less rigged. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz knew the routine: "I can't say that there is evidence that you are manipulating the price, but I believe that you probably are. So prove to me that you are not." Had I been in the hapless oil man's expensive shoes, I'd have answered, "Hey, you first. I can't say that there is evidence that you're sleeping with barnyard animals, but I...

When the House of Representatives takes up arms against $4 gas by voting 324-84 to sue OPEC, you know that election-year discourse has gone surreal. Another unmistakable sign is when a presidential candidate makes a gaffe, then, realizing it is too egregious to take back without suffering humiliation, decides to make it a centerpiece of his foreign policy...

Do Something NOW!Let Senators Bingaman and Domenici know you want them to pass the American Energy Production Act out of committee for a full vote on the floor of the United States Senate! (Learn more about SB 2958 on Herman's links page) The New Herman Cain Show Weeknights 7pm - 10pm On News/Talk 750 WSBListen! You just might learn something! Do Something NOW! Let Senators Bingaman and Domenici know you want them to pass the American Energy Production Act out of committee for a full vote on the floor of the United States Senate! Below is a suggested message...

The Dirksen Congressional Center says its namesake, the late Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Ill., never spoke the words popularly attributed to him — "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money." Still, those words came to mind when we read that President Bush, facing a certain veto override from Congress seeking to do something about record gasoline prices in an election year, reluctantly signed a bill suspending Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) deposits for the next six months. The role reversals in this debate were stunning. Democrats said injecting 70,000 additional barrels of oil a day into...

President Bush yesterday characterized Capitol Hill Democrats as hypocrites for demanding that Saudi Arabia pump more oil while blocking attempts to increase domestic drilling in such places as Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it would meet Mr. Bush's request to increase oil production, though the jump of 300,000 barrels per day was less than the president had wanted. But rather than criticize the Saudis, Mr. Bush — after a round of meetings with Middle East leaders at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik — instead heaped blame on congressional Democrats for skyrocketing...

Texas families are attempting to cope with the latest spike in energy costs and record gasoline prices. The problem is acute everywhere, particularly in North Texas, where use of energy is not an option. People spend a lot of time driving – to work, school or the grocery store. The average family is now paying $1,400 per year more for gasoline than it did last year. Higher associated costs for food and electricity are adding to the burden. Rising prices are caused by several factors, including increased demand for energy in a fast-developing world. The situation has been aggravated by...

The public must pressure Republicans in the White House and Congress to change directions in the country's energy policies, which have pushed oil and gas prices to record highs, a Democratic lawmaker said Saturday. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the rising price of oil, fostered by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's close ties to the oil industry, is no longer just a burden. "Now it is a crisis for every American family," the Michigan senator said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. She called the current energy situation "a crisis that doesn't just affect us at the pump, but...

President Bush entered office calling on Congress to pass the first national energy plan in a generation. He proposed a comprehensive energy plan to encourage conservation and energy efficiency; expand the use of alternative and renewable energy; increase the domestic production of conventional fuels; and invest in modernization of our energy infrastructure. The energy bill passed by Congress this week paves the way for a brighter and more secure energy future with more reliable, affordable, and clean sources of energy to power America forward. It will help put us on the path to reducing our dependence on foreign sources...

Here's what the leaders of the congressional Democrats told the American people two years ago to persuade voters to bring them to power: — "Democrats have a common-sense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices." (Nancy Pelosi, now speaker of the House). — "Democrats believe that we can do more for the American people who are struggling to deal with high gas prices." (Steny Hoyer, now House majority leader). — "House Democrats have a plan to help curb rising gas prices." (Jim Clyburn, now House majority whip). When Pelosi was sworn in as speaker, the national average price for...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defying a threat of a presidential veto, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to push ahead with a $21 billion tax package, including repeal of tax breaks for major oil companies, as part of an energy bill, aides to the speaker said Tuesday. Democratic leaders circulated a summary of the legislation that includes the new taxes as well as a requirement for a 40 percent increase in automobile fuel efficiency, a huge increase in the use of ethanol as a motor fuel, and a mandate for utilities to use renewable fuels. Republicans earlier this year blocked Senate attempts...

Dems Reach Deal on Energy Bill By H. JOSEF HEBERT – 14 hours ago WASHINGTON (AP) — An agreement among congressional Democrats — including those from auto industry states — to support a 40 percent increase in vehicle fuel efficiency is likely to be the tonic needed to push energy legislation through Congress before Christmas. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime protector of the auto industry, settled their differences in an agreement late Friday on the fuel economy, or CAFE, issue, clearing the way for a House vote on a broader energy bill, probably on...

WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats reached a compromise late today to boost automobile fuel economy by 40 percent, clearing the way for a House vote probably next week on an energy bill that Democratic leaders would like to send to President Bush before Christmas. The agreement came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reached an accord with Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime protector of the auto industry that dominates his home state, to ease the impact of the new fuel economy requirements. "A compromise has been reached on automobile fuel efficiency standards," Dingell announced in a statement. Automakers would be required...

On its way out of town for summer vacation, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy bill that would require, among other things, that electric utility companies produce 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. In addition, the House energy bill directs the Department of Energy to set new energy efficiency appliance standards, outlaws 100-watt incandescent light bulbs after 2012, and requires that all bulbs be 300 times more efficient than ordinary bulbs are today by 2020. The measure also provides $3.5 billion in subsidies to install E-85 (fuel that is 85 percent ethanol and 15...

Congress's energy policies would hinder America's economy. America's domestic oil production is declining, importation of oil is rising, and gasoline is more expensive. The government's Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. crude oil field production declined to 1.9 billion barrels in 2005 from 3.5 billion in 1970, and the share of our oil that is imported has increased to 60% from 27% in 1985. The price of gasoline has risen to $3.02 this month from $2 in today's dollars in 1985. Washington politicians will tell you this is an "energy crisis," but America's energy challenges are far more political than...

The Bush administration's new energy plan to reduce gasoline demand by 20 percent could have an unintended side effect. Linda Adams, California's Environmental Protection Agency secretary, says it could increase greenhouse gas emissions. It's the latest shot at the Bush administration by the governor and his administration over global warming. The president's outlined his plan yesterday in his state of the union address. He proposes to increase the amount of alternative fuel refiners must blend with gasoline over the next 10 years. But California officials say the federal government's definition of alternative fuel encompasses ways that burn fossil fuels or...

In the state's biggest, immediate step toward cutting global warming pollution, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week began shifting California's 26 million cars and trucks off petroleum-based fuels and toward alternatives that emit less greenhouse gas. The governor said his new greenhouse-gas standard for transportation fuels -- the world's first -- "leads us away from fossil fuel" and would help "in moving the entire country beyond debate, denial and inaction" on global warming. State air-pollution regulators expect to work out the details during the next 18 months. The policy would limit the amount of greenhouse gases released for each bit of...

Pelosi: Republican Energy Policy Is to Drill in Protected Areas and Give Tax Breaks to Big Oil 6/29/2006 6:40:00 PM To: National Desk, Congressional Correspondent Contact: Brendan Daly or Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616, both of Office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi; Web: http://democraticleader.house.gov WASHINGTON, June 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in opposition to H.R. 4761, which opens up new areas of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas drilling and allows drilling 50 miles from the coastline: "This bill is bad for the environment of coastal states. By revoking the...

Unprecedented economic growth and the President is suffering from anemic approval ratings. Why? Because the high price of gasoline is taking a large chunk out of our paychecks. Now that Republicans control both houses of Congress and the Oval Office, Republicans must either take the initiative or take the blame on election day. Republicans in Congress must pass an energy bill. The bill must provide immediate relief and longterm solutions. If Senate Democrats obstruct the process, let them do so on the record and face the voters in November. I suggest the following: Phase One: Immediate relief: The federal gasoline...

Bush marks Earth Day with focus on alternative fuels SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - President George W. Bush marked Earth Day on Saturday by highlighting technology that could reduce U.S. dependence on oil, while Democrats used a spike in gas prices to criticize White House energy policy. With oil prices hitting a record high this week and gas at the pump topping $3 a gallon in some places, Democrats hoping to win control of the U.S. Congress in November elections seized on the issue to make a populist argument against big oil companies and Republicans' ties to them. Critics are also...

Bush: U.S. on Verge of Energy Breakthrough Feb 20, 4:44 PM (ET) By DEB RIECHMANN MILWAUKEE (AP) - Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil. Less than half the crude oil used by refineries is produced in the United States, while 60 percent comes from foreign nations, Bush said during the first stop on a two-day trip to talk about energy. Some of these foreign suppliers have "unstable" governments that have fundamental differences with America, he...

  For Immediate ReleaseJuly 30, 2005 President's Radio Address      Audio      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This year Congress and I have addressed many key priorities of the American people and we're making great progress. At the start of the year, I urged Congress to ease the burden of junk lawsuits on American workers, businesses and families, so Congress passed, and I signed, bipartisan class-action reform. We called for restoring integrity to the bankruptcy process, so Congress passed, and I signed common-sense reform of our nation's bankruptcy laws. I requested vital funds for our men and women in uniform, so Congress...

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - President Bush stepped up pressure Wednesday on Congress to pass his energy plan, saying Americans no longer will tolerate high gasoline prices and inactivity from lawmakers. The president conceded that his energy plan would do nothing to reduce gasoline prices immediately; any benefits would come later. But he said Congress must act now or face public wrath. ... Bush's plan calls for subsidies and tax breaks to increase America's oil-production and refining capabilities, to increase reliance on alternative energy sources such as renewable ethanol and biodiesel and to expand the nation's nuclear power-plant capacity.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Capitalizing on recent positive news about the economy, President Bush says Congress should support his agenda on trade, Social Security and energy or risk endangering the economic security of the nation. "For the sake of our nation's hardworking families, we must work together to achieve long-term economic security, so that we can continue to spread prosperity and hope throughout America and the world," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address. Fears the economy could be entering a period of slower growth have eased somewhat in recent days as the government reported that job growth and retail...

President Bush said the other day that he wishes he could wave a magic wand and make gas prices go down. That sounds like a plan that would almost be as effective as his misbegotten, long-languishing energy bill. Bush relentlessly touts the legislation as a potential salve for high gas prices, but it won’t be, because it runs afoul of a force with which Bush should be familiar — the free market. Bush’s latest proposal is to allow oil refineries to be built on former military bases. This is clever, since the bases are isolated — away from immediate...

WASHINGTON - President Bush, saying there are no short-term fixes to high energy prices, pushed a package to build more nuclear power plants and oil refineries. The speech was Bush's second on energy in a week. His remarks drew criticism from Democrats and environmental groups. "If I could, I would" lower gasoline prices, he said, repeating a comment from last Wednesday's energy speech. Bush's energy offensive comes as he continues to face an uphill battle with his Social Security reform effort, stiff resistance to his U.N. ambassador nominee John Bolton and poll numbers showing slipping support. An ABC News-Washington Post...

"See, we've got a fundamental question we got to face here in America," Bush said. "Do we want to continue to grow more dependent on other nations to meet our energy needs? Or, do we need to do what is necessary to achieve greater control of our economic destiny?" These words drive the point home. Either we cry about our dependence on foreign oil or we can do something about it. The liberals love to cry out against our dependence on imported oil, but they don't want us to drill in Alaska or build new nuclear power plants. This country...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure over high energy prices, President Bush on Wednesday will propose tackling the root causes of the problem by encouraging new oil refineries be built at closed military bases and jumpstarting construction of new nuclear power plants. In a speech, Bush will also propose giving federal regulators the lead authority to decide where to locate terminals for processing imported natural gas. States have increasingly been taking the lead on this issue. And the president will propose adding vehicles that use clean-burning diesel fuel to the list of automobiles eligible for $2.5 billion in tax credits over...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES President Bush today will propose several energy initiatives, including increasing the nation's oil refinery capacity and making it easier to build nuclear power plants, despite his first-term failure to get Congress to pass his original energy bill. The president will deliver a speech this afternoon that will "talk about several new measures that will help us address the root causes of our energy situation," a senior administration official said last night on the condition of anonymity.

WASHINGTON - Confronting growing concerns over high energy prices, President Bush on Wednesday will unveil controversial plans to spur construction of new nuclear power plants, provide incentives to buy diesel vehicles and most novel of all: use some old military bases for oil refineries. The president will spell out the plans in a speech to a small business group Wednesday afternoon. And while industry is likely to be on board, the nuclear and oil refinery ideas face a "not in my backyard" resistance. The president’s proposals were outlined late Tuesday by senior White House officials, speaking in general terms and...

WASHINGTON Apr 27, 2005 — President Bush is offering to make closed military bases available for new oil refineries and will ask Congress to provide a "risk insurance" to the nuclear industry against regulatory delays to spur construction of new nuclear power plants, senior administration officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president will outline his proposals in a speech Wednesday in which he intends to emphasize how new technologies can be used to ease the energy supply crunch. The White House acknowledged that none of the initiatives was expected to provide any short-term...

WASINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Bush plans to propose federal guarantees to speed up the process for licensing new nuclear power plants and call on state and federal officials to look into building new oil refineries at closed military bases, senior administration officials said. In the speech scheduled to be delivered Wednesday at a Small Business Association conference, the president also plans to ask lawmakers to fund an additional $2.5 billion in tax breaks for alternative fueled vehicles and give federal regulators exclusive authority to site liquid natural gas facilities offshore with the aim of boosting imports of natural gas, the...

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2005 – President Bush unveiled a plan today to encourage building oil refineries on military sites that have closed. Speaking at a Small Business Administration conference here, the president recommended this and other initiatives to address the country's energy needs and reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. Bush said expanding refinery capacity will help address the shortage that's partly blamed for skyrocketing gasoline prices. The last oil refinery built in the United States was completed in 1976, he said. During a White House press briefing today, spokesman Scott McClellan said the federal agencies would work with states...

Bush Lays Out Energy Plan As Prices Soar By H. JOSEF HEBERT WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, facing economic and political damage from soaring gas prices, offered proposals Wednesday to speed construction of nuclear power plants and oil refineries and boost sales of energy-efficient vehicles. Bush outlined his initiatives in his second energy speech in a week, reflecting growing concern in the White House that high energy prices are beginning to slow economic growth and undercut the president's approval rating. Speaking to small business leaders, Bush lamented that he was powerless to cut gas prices. ``I wish I could,'' he...