Thomas Pyle

As President Obama has finally decided to join the heated and thus-far-failed national debt talks, the administration and some in Congress are insistent on tax hikes for oil and gas companies. Unfortunately, this political gamesmanship may result in higher energy prices, decreased domestic production, increased reliance on foreign oil and a further crippling of our already fragile economy. (more)

High unemployment, an energy crisis and even “stagflation.” President Obama’s first term has been the second term Jimmy Carter never had. Carter campaigned as "A leader, for a change,” while Obama’s slogan was “Change we can believe in.” If those parallels weren’t enough, Obama can now claim his own hostage crisis. (more)

Even as the administration backs off of its devastating offshore drilling moratorium, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is standing firm in maintaining her hold on confirming Jacob Lew as the head of the Office of Management and Budget.  A Democrat herself, she could hardly be accused of spoiling for a political battle with the White House. Rather, it was the Obama administration itself that instigated the fight by sacrificing Louisiana jobs to political expediency with the issuance of the deepwater offshore energy moratorium. (more)

At a time when the economy is reeling and national unemployment hovers just under 10%, the President and Congressional leaders are ignoring the wishes of the American people; seemingly working overtime to drive up energy costs and send jobs overseas by punishing our own energy industry. The President’s insistence on maintaining a ban on deepwater exploration and drilling for oil and gas along with the de facto ban on near shore activity is wreaking havoc on the Gulf Coast’s economy and could easily impact national energy prices this winter. (more)

The Gulf oil spill is delivering a crushing blow to coastal residents and businesses, but Washington’s response threatens to place additional hardships on the Gulf region that could jeopardize our national energy security.  In the wake of the accident, President Obama first halted work in the deep water Gulf and then suspended 33 existing deepwater projects. A temporary pause to inspect these deepwater drilling rigs was warranted; an outright ban will cripple the already struggling Gulf Coast community. Now that the BP well has been capped and a permanent solution to the leak is on the way, the president should re-evaluate his hasty and politically motivated decision to issue a deepwater drilling moratorium. (more)

Happy Dependence Day! This weekend, we celebrated our nation’s most important holiday—the birth of this great country and the freedoms and liberty it provides us.  But while we celebrated our independence as a nation, we continue to face increasing and alarming dependence in our energy sector, the lifeblood of our economy. (more)

On this 40^th anniversary of Earth Day, Americans should reflect not only on the importance of a clean environment, but also take a moment to consider the vital role that abundant natural resources have contributed towards the betterment of our lives. (more)

High stakes, tall-odds, last-second heaves and long-shot upsets—to some, March Madness represents one of the most exciting events on the calendar, and among the most heavily wagered on as well. But who’s talking about basketball? On Capitol Hill, more than a dozen competing energy and environmental proposals are in the process of making their final case to the committee, and gearing up for a furious race to the finish in 2010. (more)