Members of the U.S. Senate met with President Obama at the White House Tuesday to discuss next steps for energy and climate legislation. In a statement, the White House called the meeting "constructive" and released information about the president's comments:

"The President told the Senators that he still believes the best way for us to transition to a clean energy economy is with a bill that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America's businesses by putting a price on pollution - because when companies pollute, they should be responsible for the costs to the environment and their contribution to climate change."

Notice that the stated strategy is to make clean energy profitable. This statement acknowledges that "clean energy" isn't profitable now. The fact is that so... more »

Editor's Note: In a statement issued today, API President and CEO Jack Gerard cited the need for a thorough assessment of the Kerry-Lieberman draft climate proposal released today. The full text of Jack's comments appears below:

"This broad proposal reflects the complex relationship between the U.S. energy system and greenhouse gas emissions which come from every car, home, factory and farm in America. We are reviewing the released text to assess the proposal's possible impact on jobs, energy production, and consumers of oil and natural gas. However, until full legislative language has been thoroughly analyzed, any assessment would be guess work at best.

We need reliable data and estimates on how the draft legislation would affect energy production, energy prices, consumers' budgets and t... more »

A "big deal." That's how Energy Secretary Steven Chu described shale gas at a conference this week, adding that "gas will be the transition fuel as we go to renewables." (NGI's Daily Gas Price Index)

Sec. Chu is just one of many observers who say that natural gas produced from U.S. shale formations could change America's energy landscape.

Daniel Yergin of IHS CERA calls it a "game changer." Philip Sharp, president of Resources for the Future, calls it a "tremendous boon" to the U.S. natural gas supply. (NGI's Daily Gas Price Index)

According to estimates, today's natural gas supplies could meet America's needs for 100 years, based on the current consumption rate.

In fact, natural gas supplies are so abundant, ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO James J. Mulva says it's much more than a bridge... more »

Each week the National Journal's Energy and Environment blog poses a question and invites a select group of authorities to respond. The question for the week asked about a Gallup Poll showing that Americans are less concerned about the environment than at any time in the past 20 years.

National Journal asked, why? And what does the lack of concern portend for climate legislation?

API's President and CEO Jack Gerard posted a response that made two key points:

• Americans are focused on jobs and the economy; and

• It's likely that many Americans are aware that the environment has improved markedly during the past several years.

According to a report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the levels of six common air pollutants have fallen 41 percent on average since 1990, de... more »

The Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate discussions continue to be a work in progress. Until the proposal advances beyond the concept stage, we won't know enough to support or oppose it.

Because of the interconnected nature of energy to all aspects of our economy, climate and energy policy has an enormous potential impact on Americans and their ability to find jobs and purchase goods.

For that reason, we need to see more details of the plan and an Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis that assesses the plan's impacts on energy production and the economy.

Moving away from the House Waxman-Markey approach was imperative. The House bill would have eliminated millions more jobs than it created and unfairly burdened families, farmers, truckers and other regular users of gasoline, diesel a... more »