Good discussion of hydraulic fracturing Wednesday at the American Enterprise Institute, which hosted a panel that included Reason magazine science writer Ronald Bailey, University of Wyoming economist Timothy Considine, the Environmental Defense Fund's Mark Brownstein and the Natural Resources Defense Council's Amy Mall. The key takeaways:

• In terms of fracking methods and technology, so-called "best practices" are coming from free-market competition, not the prod of government regulation, Bailey said. Although Brownstein is more of a regulation proponent, he acknowledged government rules aren't always needed to coax innovation.
• Hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania has produced 50,000 new jobs, according to Considine, who authored a 2010 report to API on the impacts of shale gas developmen... more »

Suggesting that because gasoline prices have been rising, something sinister is afoot certainly will grab headlines in Washington. So it's not out of line to wonder if there's some grandstanding in two senators' letter to the Federal Trade Commission, asking for a review of refinery capacity and allegations of market manipulation. Yes, says API's chief economist.

"The notion that there's a conspiracy is absurd," says John Felmy of the request from Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "This is an attempt to distract attention from failed energy policy. The Federal Trade Commission was already closely monitoring gasoline prices, and no evidence has surfaced to suggest supply and demand aren't the primary forces driving them."

Here's the key issue in the senators' letter:... 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 »

Even as the economy creates more jobs, unemployment remains much too high. That is one reason Americans remain highly suspicious of efforts to increase taxes on the oil and natural gas industry, an industry that supports more than 9.2 million jobs - and could create more than one million new jobs if we opened areas currently off limits, pursued oil and natural gas shale development, and furthered our energy partnership with Canada. A new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP found that in addition to millions of jobs, the oil and natural gas industry also supports 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, with its economic impact reaching all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Yet, some in Congress are calling for higher taxes on U.S. energy companies. These lawmakers are working under the guise... more »

Three weaknesses stand out in the new Duke University study of methane in water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania - research that focuses on the hydraulic fracturing process used to free natural gas and oil from subterranean rock, which has been done for more than 60 years.

First: Levels of methane that researchers claim to have found in water near hydraulically fractured natural gas wells probably aren't a health risk. Even lead author Stephen G. Osborn notes that "dissolved methane in drinking water is not currently classified as a health hazard for ingestion."

Studies show methane evaporates quickly and is rapidly eliminated from the body. Although methane in closed spaces can be risky, the levels described in the study appear to be well below danger thresholds. The fact is Pennsylvani... more »