Check out this video by WPX Energy that describes the careful way energy companies are using water from Donegal Lake in south central Pennsylvania for hydraulic fracturing.

Regulatory Manager David Freudenrich notes that water levels in the lake are carefully monitored to make sure the lake has plenty of water for fishing and surface recreation. Below certain levels companies aren’t allowed to draw water for fracking. They also can’t draw lake water at the beginning of trout season, Freudenrich says. Take a look:

For more information, please visit EnergyFromShale.org.

According to the Energy Information Administration, oil and natural gas supply more than 60 percent of the energy we currently use and will supply near that level for decades to come. The question is, how will America meet the challenge of that energy reality?

A presidential election year is an excellent opportunity for a conversation about energy policy. This week API presented a policy roadmap to the two political parties that takes into account the country’s ample oil and natural gas resources and discusses ways to use them for more jobs, a better economy and greater national security. API President and CEO Jack Gerard:

“The question facing America is not whether we will continue to need oil and natural gas in the decades to come. The question is: Where will we get it? Will we... more »

Supporters of continuing ethanol subsidies are once again using a study out of Iowa State to bolster their case, and once again, it doesn’t.  This year’s study, “The Impact of Ethanol Production on U.S. and Regional Gasoline Markets: An Update to 2012,” is an update to their previous work. In reviewing that work, here’s what the Institute for Energy Research concluded:

"The recent Iowa State study claiming that ethanol production has suppressed the growth in gasoline prices is very misleading. It takes for granted the current refinery capacity and other infrastructure that industry uses to deliver gasoline to motorists, without realizing that federal policies over the years have distorted the development of these markets. Ethanol only survives in the market place at its current leve... more »

Just a thought, but how great would it be if one of this fall’s presidential debates focused solely on energy issues?

Past presidential debates have discussed the economy and jobs, national security and foreign policy, and of course all of those are important. Yet, when you think about it, energy is the nexus where all come together.

Energy runs our economy, literally, and the quest for it supports millions of jobs and could create hundreds of thousands more. Our need for reliable, affordable energy figures prominently in national security and foreign policy decisions. An America that meets most or all of its energy needs here at home would be safer, its prosperity less vulnerable to geo-political developments.

So, when the people who decide the topics for this year’s presidential... more »

The warmed-over claim that oil and natural gas companies aren’t using large numbers of leases on public lands is like a Mark Twain line: What’s the difference between a cat and a lie? A cat only has nine lives!

Seriously, here we go again, with the administration claiming (again) that leases in federal areas offshore and onshore aren’t being used. It made similar claims in 2009 and again last year. Politico Pro [subscription required] says this year’s report is basically last year’s with a few updated numbers. Here’s a statement from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar:

“These lands and waters belong to the American people, and they expect those energy supplies to be developed in a timely and responsible manner and with a fair return to taxpayers.”

Let’s be clear: It’s simply fal... more »