No one likes to watch sausage being made, but most of us enjoy sausage. That seems to be the case with oil and natural gas, too. The vast majority of Americans enjoy the benefits afforded by these energy-rich fuels, but some Americans would prefer not to see how they are produced.

The City of Long Beach successfully addressed the "sausage-making issue" back in the 1960s when it passed a resolution allowing several oil companies to produce energy in its harbor. It said the companies could create man-made islands to drill for oil and natural gas in the coastal waters, but in return the companies had to disguise their activities. The companies agreed, and the THUMS Islands were born.

The THUMS Islands, named after Texaco, Humble, Union, Mobil and Shell, were constructed from 640,000 tons of... more »

As President Obama prepares to meet with leaders of the G-20 nations tomorrow, he should be commended for noting that climate change is a challenge for both developed and developing nations.

But his call to "phase out fossil fuel subsidies" is the wrong approach that should be seen for what it really is: a giant tax hike on American consumers.

By raising energy taxes under the veil of eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, oil and natural gas companies would be deprived of the capital they need to invest in exploration and development. That would likely kill jobs, restrict the energy supply and increase costs to consumers and businesses.

Advocates of this strategy make the ludicrous claim that so-called subsidies lead to the overproduction of oil and natural gas. And their policy prescriptions... more »

Three more studies have been issued about the Waxman-Markey climate bill, and each represents another red flag urging extreme caution.

Last Friday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) quietly released a new analysis of the bill's potential impact on the U.S. economy. The study shows that the Waxman-Markey bill could reduce the nation's Gross Domestic Product by up to 3.5 percent by 2050. As I've pointed out on this blog, the CBO neglected to include the bill's GDP impacts in its earlier study, resulting in findings that grossly downplayed the climate bill's costs.

Now in its new study, the CBO says the impacts by 2050 would be "modest" because the economy is likely to be much larger by then. And it goes on to say that the effect on the average household would be small, because people wou... more »

This week's episode focuses on the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study regarding the impact of the oil and natural gas industry on the U.S. economy. As the study shows, the industry supports 9.2 million workers and contributes more than $1 trillion to the economy. Art Wiese, API's policy analysis manager, discusses the findings with me.

Use the audio player below to listen to information on the study and follow along with the show notes. Also below, you can read the full study. I hope you find the podcast informative.

Show Notes:

00:18 Have you noticed how news reports quantify the importance of an industry to the U.S. economy? For example, in many news articles about the ongoing health care debate, reporters often say that health care is a multi-billion dollar business that makes... more »

Today is your last chance to write to the government to support the Five-Year offshore drilling plan. At the close of business today, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) will end the public comment period, tally the emails and letters, write a report on its findings, and help the Secretary of the Interior decide whether to implement the government's offshore drilling plan.

The plan identifies existing and new offshore areas that could be opened to leasing. If it moves forward, leases in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and Pacific could be made available to the highest bidders in a lease sale. Only then can companies explore for oil and natural gas in leased areas--and if commercially viable quantities are discovered--start producing energy.

The United States needs all of the ene... more »