Energy & Environment

House Republicans, in their push to ease restrictions on oil drilling, are crying foul that China drills for oil 50 miles off the coast of Florida while U.S. companies must sit on the sidelines.

The House GOP leadership office today circulated an op-ed Rep. George Radanovich (R-Ca.) has published in the Modesto Bee, in which Radanovich says, "China, thanks to a lease issued by Cuba, is drilling for oil just 50 miles off Florida's coast...Suffice to say that China doesn Read more...

Five senators sent a letter to the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) today, calling on him to restrict the trade of oil futures, citing rising gas prices as reason to limit investment.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) called on CFTC Chairman Walter Lukken to use emergency powers to prevent futures traders from increasing the size of their investments, and to reduce the holdings of institutional investors, such as banks and investment funds, whose investments exceed certain levels.

The senators wrote that the increasing price of oil futures is driving up the price of gasoline. Futures trading centers on the purchase and sale of oil at future prices, and investors essentially bet on how the price of oil will fluctuate. Over 99 percent of new investors are betting that the price of oil will go up, the senators wrote, resulting in a speculation bubble that has driven up the price of oil.

The Department of Energy today submitted an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for what would be the nation's first repository for spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.

The site would be located under Yucca Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas.

The 8,600 page application was several years in the making according to the department, which also said over 20 years of scientific analysis have been conducted to determine whether the proposed facility will be safe as a permanent disposal site for nuclear waste.

The department touted the submission as progress for nuclear energy in the U.S. "Submittal of the Yucca Mountain license application will further encourage the expansion of nuclear power in the United States, which is absolutely critical to our energy security, environmental goals, and national security," Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said today in a release.

The politically charged Yucca Mountain proposal has seen support and opposition from both sides of the aisle. See DoE's release here.

Former Vice President Al Gore is praising Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) for her work on the Lieberman-Warner climate bill, which is now being debated in the Senate.

"I want to commend Senator Boxer for her leadership of the Environment and Public Works Committee," Gore said in a statement yesterday. "Thanks to her vision and dedication, we have the first global warming bill in history that is comprehensive, bipartisan and that enjoys support across the country -- from labor and agriculture to the business and the environmental communities. Of course the bill needs to be stronger, but it's vital that Congress begin to act. While it's important that people change their light bulbs, it's even more important that we change the laws."

Boxer chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) is recruiting support for an online protest of high gas prices.

Armey sent an email to members of FreedomWorks, the interest group where he serves as chairman, blaming congressional Democrats for high gas prices -- a current rhetorical theme for Republicans.

"Bad policy from Congress is a major reason gasoline is going through the roof. Led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress continues to block development most of America

Most Americans want oil released from U.S. reserves and for oil companies to drill in protected areas, according to a poll released by Gallup.

The poll found that 58 percent of Americans want oil released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while 57 percent want Congress to allow oil companies to drill in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas now off limits.

Republicans in Congress are now pushing a plan, unveiled last week, to lower gas prices, which includes both releasing oil from the strategic reserve and expanding drilling rights for oil companies.

The poll surveyed over 1,000 Americans aged 18 or older. See the results below. Read more...

As Congress fights over who is to blame for high gas prices, and passes bills seeking to address the issue, a new poll has found that few Americans have faith that the price will drop or even stay the same.

According to a new Rasmussen poll, 71 percent of American adults think gasoline will reach $5 per gallon by the end of the summer, while 21 percent said it is unlikely that gas will reach the $5 mark. Rasmussen surveyed 1,000 adults by phone on May 21 and 22.
The House moved May 20 to create a Department of Justice task force to investigate foreign and domestic oil companies for potential price gouging and conspiracy to alter market prices. The House also passed a bill, with the goal of lowering the price of oil, calling on President Bush to stop purchasing oil to deposit in the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve. Republicans have blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for high gas prices, dubbing recent increases the "Pelosi Premium."

Ten state treasurers and comptrollers plus asset managers for investment firms--a group controlling $2.3 trillion--are calling on Senate leaders to pass legislation that addresses climate change.

The group includes the global head of asset management for Deutsche Bank, the global head of corporate responsibility for the Man Group (the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund operator),

Oil executives have been asked to return to Congress later this month to testify on rising oil prices.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today called top executives from Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP America, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips to testify before his committee Wed., May 21 on "the skyrocketing price of oil."

The hearing will examine oil's effect on gas prices, in addition to "speculation and manipulation of the oil commodity market, anticompetitive practices by OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), artificial limits on supply, and the oil industry

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), honorary chairman of The Freedom Project, today announced that the group would send out bumper stickers reading "America Can't Afford the Pelosi Premium," blaming the speaker for rising gas prices.

The bumper sticker will go out to anyone who signs the group's online petition calling on Democrats to reveal a promised plan to lower gas prices.

"Tired of paying nearly $4 for a gallon of gas?" Boehner asked today in a statement. "Had enough of politicians who think you should pay even more? Then it