E2-Wire

President Barack Obama used a meeting with Senate Republicans Tuesday to press for action on energy and climate legislation this year, but faced headwinds in a session that senators described as “testy” and “tense.”

Obama traveled to the Capitol to discuss a range of issues with the GOP caucus Tuesday afternoon, including immigration and funding for the conflict in Afghanistan.

“On energy, the President told the conference that the gulf oil disaster should heighten our sense of urgency to hasten the development of new, clean energy sources that will promote energy independence and good-paying American jobs,” the White House said in a statement after the meeting. “And he asked that they work with him on the promising proposals currently before Congress.”

President Barack Obama will travel to Louisiana Friday to assess efforts to counter the worsening Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the White House said.

The trip marks Obama’s second visit to the region since the offshore rig explosion April 20 that touched off the ongoing leak from BP’s damaged undersea well.

Obama’s visit comes amid growing frustration among federal officials over BP’s inability thus far to cap the well.

A report by the Interior Department's inspector general alleges oil companies were allowed to fill out their own inspection forms.

The Senate is slated to vote June 10 on Murkowski’s resolution to strip the EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gases.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the worst in U.S. history, President Barack Obama's energy and climate czar said Tuesday.

Report: Drilling regulators accepted industry gifts, let oil companies fill out inspection papers

The New York Times has the goods on a devastating report by the Interior Department’s inspector general about lax federal oversight of offshore drilling.

The IG report concludes that Minerals Management Service regulators “allowed industry officials several years ago to fill in their own inspection reports in pencil — and then turned them over to the regulators, who traced over them in pen before submitting the reports to the agency,” the paper reports.

Here’s more:

“The report, which describes inappropriate behavior by the staff at the Minerals Management Service from 2005 to 2007, also found that inspectors had accepted meals, tickets to sporting events and gifts from at least one oil company while they were overseeing the industry.”

The White House walks a delicate line through the politics of the Gulf oil spill.