The Transportation Department and EPA will roll out final rules Thursday that boost car and light truck fuel efficiency.

Environmental groups that are on board with efforts to craft a compromise climate change and energy bill slammed the proposal.

Over on our main page, my colleague Alexander Bolton looks at how White House plans to expand offshore drilling are dividing Senate Democrats.

In contrast to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) lukewarm response to President Obama's drilling announcement today, House Majority Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is full embracing the plan.

A release from his office:

Cross-posted from the Briefing Room

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given a lukewarm reaction to President Barack Obama's oil drilling proposal.

Republicans offered differing responses Wednesday to new Obama administration plans to expand offshore oil-and-gas drilling.

GOP members generally called the plans too limited. But from there the GOP lawmakers’ reactions ranged from strong attacks to qualified praise.

The Obama administration is proposing to expand leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, sell leases off the Virginia coast and potentially allow development off the coasts of other southeastern and mid-Atlantic states.

Some Republicans have jumped on the Obama administration for not opening up more areas offshore to drilling in the plan announced Wednesday. But the industry response was generally more positive, which could weaken the ability of the minority party to score political points if gas prices rise as expected this summer.

Jack Gerard, the president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, called the administration’s move to expand drilling off the Southeastern coastline, parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and areas off of Alaska a “positive development.”

“We appreciate the administration’s recognition of the importance of developing our nation’s oil and natural gas resources to create jobs, generate revenues and fuel our nation’s economy,” Gerard said.

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Sen. John Kerry, who is leading the effort to craft a climate bill in the Senate, said Wednesday that he would consider supporting President Barack Obama's decision to expand offshore oil and gas drilling.

Kerry's (D-Mass.) spokesperson Whitney Smith said that the move could help him attract the 60 votes necessary to move climate legislation through the Senate. 

Kerry has been working with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to craft a climate bill that could get enough support to overcome a GOP filibuster while not alienating liberals and environmental groups.

Republicans favor more drilling but their leaders have said that the plan does not open up enough areas for drilling because it excludes Pacific coast and some areas of Alaska.

Obama's plan would expand drilling areas to include areas off the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. 

10 coastal Democratic senators recently wrote Kerry to say they would oppose a bill if it greatly expands offshore oil and gas drilling, citing environmental concerns.

Kerry's office said the drilling under Obama's plan would be "conducted in an environmentally sensitive manner that protects the interests of the coastal states."

Click here to see a map that describes the Alaska offshore drilling strategy.

Click here to see a map that describes the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico drilling strategies.

Cross-posted to the Briefing Room

Administration officials described President Barack Obama's decision to expand offshore drilling as something less than an embrace of the "Drill, Baby, Drill" philosophy Republicans pushed in the summer of 2008 when gas prices shot up to more than $4 a gallon.

“America cannot drill its way to energy independence,” Carol Browner, the administration’s climate czar, told reporters in a conference call Wednesday.

She said the drilling should be viewed in the context of increasing fuel efficiency standards and requiring federal agencies to purchase cleaner vehicles, other components of the broader administration strategy that focuses on conservation in addition to energy production. The Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency are expected to release final fuel economy standards on Thursday.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the offshore plan was part of a “new direction” in energy policy that balances conservation and development of the nation's oceans.

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