Interesting points (and mesmerizing map) in Brad Plumer's post on why the employment/economic picture is better in some states than others, based on a Goldman Sachs analysis. Plumer lists the reasons:

1. Energy. "States that are linked to the oil and natural gas industry do particularly well in maintaining employment," Plumer writes, "among them Alaska, Texas, Wyoming and North Dakota (which boasts a 3.3 percent unemployment rate)." More on North Dakota, here.

2. States with limited exposure to the housing bubble.

3. States with lots of high-end service jobs.

Plumer's conclusion? "Yet another reason why housing policy seems to be the most fruitful place to look for ideas about how to pull the country out of its slump."

Housing policy? Of course (insert sarcasm here). Why opt for No. 1 when... more »

So, just how do we get to energy security - to the point where, by 2030, 92 percent of America's liquid fuel needs is supplied by a combination of U.S. and Canadian sources? Here's how.

Start with where we are now. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States uses slightly more than 19 million barrels per day (mb/d) in liquid fuels - including oil, heating oil, diesel and biofuels. Of that total, 8.5 mb/d (45 percent) comes from U.S. sources, 2.33 mb/d (12 percent) from Canada and 7.2 mb/d (38 percent) from the rest of the world. Biofuels account for about 1 mb/d (5 percent).

With the right policies, by 2030 the U.S. can account for 62 percent of its liquid fuel needs and Canada 16 percent. Add in the EIA's projection that biofuels will grow to 14 percent, a... more »

One step forward ... and two steps back. A simple but effective analysis of the administration's proposal to ramp up offshore oil drilling while it continues calling for higher taxes - on the industry that does the drilling. Now there's a policy muddle!

In his weekly Saturday radio address, President Obama said the government would do a number of things to promote offshore drilling: extend existing leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast and hold more frequent lease sales in a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska.

The ideas are OK, but not great. (Especially when you throw in another new one from the administration, a graduated fee structure to prod energy companies to use existing leases - even though they already pay thousands of dollars for the right to hunt for oil and natur... more »

With the approval of federal and state regulators, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) has been restarted at a reduced rate of flow. Rather than transporting about 640,000 barrels of oil a day from Prudhoe Bay to the port at Valdez, Alaska, the pipeline is moving about 400,000 barrels per day. At Valdez, the oil flows into storage tanks for loading onto tankers bound for West Coast refineries.

Although the secondary pipe in the basement of Pump Station 1 continues to leak and the new bypass piping has not been completed, government and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. officials agreed that operations along the massive, 800-mile pipeline should be resumed. By turning on the pumps along the pipeline's route, the oil in the pipeline is warmed and concerns about icing can be addressed. At Prudhoe Bay... more »

No oil is flowing through the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline for the fourth day today as workers construct a bypass around a leaking pipe at Pump Station 1. The leak was discovered in a secondary line which is encased in concrete below the pumping station on Saturday. Oil was discovered flowing into the basement where the line passes through a wall. Siphoning trucks have recovered about 18 barrels of oil from the basement as oil remaining in the line continues to leak.

The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, which operates the 800-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska, has had welders working around the clock to circumvent the leaky pipe and restore the flow of oil. According to the Anchorage Daily News, this is the third longest closure in the pipeline's 33-year history. In recent months... more »