An illustration of the energy impasse in Washington - former U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, speaking last week during a "Conversations with Power" panel discussion at the Newseum:

"We are a country with 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, we're 5 percent of the population, we produce 10 percent of the world's oil and use over 20 percent of the world's oil. ... We need a new energy policy that makes us less vulnerable, less oil intensive. ... We're going to have to have a price on carbon. ... We're always going to need fossil energy and use fossil energy. We need to use it differently. We're too oil-centric. ... We could wake up some morning and discover that the energy with which we run our economy doesn't exist or the supply was interrupted and we'd be in big trouble."

Then there's the U.S. C... more »

There was a great point at the tail end of this week's hydraulic fracturing public hearing hosted by the Energy Department's natural gas subcommittee.

When asked about industry compliance with Wyoming regulations that require each oil and natural gas well to get an air-quality permit, state Department of Environmental Quality Director John Corra had positive things to say. "Industry has risen to the occasion," Corra said. "We have willing partners in this effort to make this as clean as possible."

Some might dismiss Corra's remark as anecdotal, but the subcommittee shouldn't. The panel was created to assess what's happening with hydraulic fracturing and the effectiveness of state regulatory efforts. The Wyoming example suggests a larger truth: The oil and natural gas industry is committed... more »

A new academic study has this advice for the administration on its proposal to raise taxes on energy companies: Don't do it - go with increased oil and natural gas production instead.

Louisiana State University Professor Joseph Mason says lost economic output, lost jobs and reduced tax revenues would result if the administration succeeds in eliminating a pair of tax treatments now available to oil and natural gas companies - ironic since the administration claims hiking taxes would generate revenue and help lower the deficit. Specifically, higher energy taxes would mean:

• $341 billion in lost economic output, 2011-2020
• 155,000 jobs lost in 2011 and 115,000 each year thereafter until 2020
• $68 billion in lost wages, 2011-2020
• $83.5 billion in reduced tax revenues to government

According to... more »

With June's dismal jobs report, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner's question from earlier in the week gains traction: "Where are the jobs?"

Wait a minute ... I know this one - energy!

More important: Does the administration know the answer? Lots of people are asking about its jobs strategy after the June report showed a disappointing gain of just 18,000, well below the 125,000 new positions needed each month just to keep up with population growth. Unemployment rose to 9.2 percent. Since Jan. 20, 2009, some 2.5 million jobs have been lost in the economy. The president:

"We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do. ... Our economy as a whole isn't producing nearly enough jobs for everyone who's looking. ... The American people expect us to act on every good idea that's out there."

G... more »

The administration has a big jobs problem, as June's unemployment numbers show. It also has a big energy problem - as in the energy gap between what powers America now and in the foreseeable future (oil and natural gas) and the more distant future when other technologies will be workable, affordable and national in scale. The good news: Solving the energy problem would help big-time with jobs. Need a bonus? The right energy policies also would help with the other big pain in the president's neck: the deficit.

First, get the right energy policies. During Wednesday's Twitter town hall the president made clear - despite his repeated calls for increased domestic oil production - his goal is reducing U.S. dependency on oil. Not just foreign oil. All oil. Yet, in the same breath he acknowledged... more »