On Wednesday, after the President's speech on energy the following tweet popped up in our Twitter stream:

@whitehouse - Hey, Heather Zichal here with the WH to take your energy questions, send them along

And people did, quite a few actually. The White House team was unable to get to all of them, understandably, so we have decided to help them out. But first we have to address a gross inaccuracy in one of the five answers that they did provide. @wilcoxgolf asked:

@whitehouse why do you not drill in the US? We have enough oil!

to which the White House responded:

@willcoxgolf Last year US oil production reached highest level since 2003, oil cos. sitting on many unused leases http://wh.gov/a2u

The last part is simply not true. The administration only can make this statement by defining actio... more »

On Saturday, February 19th the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, for 2011. The Continuing Resolution (CR), which would fund the government through the end of Fiscal Year 2011, includes provisions that limit funding for several Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions that have been called prime examples of the agency overreaching its authority. In lopsided votes, the House voted to cut funding to implement EPA's E15 waivers, its decision block to air quality permits that are a requirement for drilling permits on Alaska's Arctic coast, and its rules to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Since the beginning of this year, EPA has been phasing in GHG regulations that are aimed at reducing emissions from stationary sources, inclu... more »

In today's episode, I interview API's Downstream and Industry Operations Group Director Bob Greco about the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision regarding the amount of ethanol permitted in gasoline. Use the audio player below to listen to information about the article and follow along with the show notes. I hope you find the podcast informative.

00:16 Nearly every gallon of gasoline sold in America today contains ethanol. This alcohol fuel is made primarily from corn here in the United States and blended into gasoline in accord with federal guidelines. Gasoline containing no more than 10 percent ethanol has been in the marketplace for several years. But recently the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to allow fuel containing up to 15 percent ethanol to be s... more »

Jeffrey Leonard has an article entitled "Get the Energy Sector off the Dole" in the January/February issue of Washington Monthly with some interesting policy ideas, but also some points greatly in need of clarification.

• Mr. Leonard attacks the intangible drilling cost deduction allowed for oil and gas producers as an often abused subsidy. Actually this deduction is no different than the deduction generally allowed for research and development; and, as such, it has helped drive new technologies that have led to the access and development of vast domestic oil and natural gas plays that Mr. Leonard concedes will be a huge factor in America's energy future. Further, there is no evidence of any real or perceived abuses of this deduction mainly, I expect, due to the fact that the IRS would have... more »

Battle lines are being drawn over the labels that are supposed to be affixed to gasoline pumps dispensing E15. This fuel blend, which consists of 85 percent gasoline and 15 percent ethanol, has been authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in 2007 and newer model vehicles despite the fact that it appears to be capable of harming some engines and dispensing equipment.

Now a fight is brewing over the labels for the pumps. To prevent misfueling, API is proposing a label that provides the critical information to the consumer to make an informed decision:

Growth Energy, the pro-ethanol group that petitioned the EPA to permit the sale of E15, prefers this label:

Now I ask you: Which of these labels is more likely to get your attention and stop you from putting the wrong f... more »