“Energy” on The Daily Caller

Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe took to the Senate floor Wednesday to announce an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency’s “crucify them” enforcement strategy to keep oil and gas producers in line. (more)

During a event to celebrate the release of Citizen’s Against Government Waste’s annual Congressional Pig Book on Wednesday, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain criticized earmarks for”alternative energy research” in defense appropriations bills, which he said cost taxpayers $120 million. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — First Solar Inc. will lay off 2,000 workers and close its factory in Germany following a collapse in solar panel prices that has erased the industry’s profits and forced some smaller companies into bankruptcy. (more)

President Barack Obama is trying to portray himself as the hard-nosed protector of gasoline-buying consumers, and to frame the GOP’s free market policies as one cause of rising gasoline prices. (more)

The American Energy Alliance (AEA) is hitting back at the Democratic National Committee over attacks on an ad AEA began running in swing states attacking President Barack Obama’s energy policies. (more)

As Ronald Reagan famously said, “There you go again.” (more)

GOP leaders are investigating Ecotality Inc., yet another troubled green-tech company that has received taxpayer funds and public support from the White House. (more)

What a difference a few months can make. In January, gasoline hit $3.37 per gallon on average nationwide — its highest-ever price in that month. Fast-forward to March and the average is $3.86 per gallon, an increase of 49 cents over two months. A 25-cent increase in the price of gasoline translates to a $35 billion price tag for the broader economy. It’s important to note this figure only accounts for direct costs and doesn’t take into account increased costs facing U.S. businesses and consumers due to higher prices for transportation and other goods. It’s clear that when gas prices rise, consumers cut back in other areas and the whole economy suffers. (more)

With gas prices rising and President Obama’s approval rating falling, many liberal pundits have been quick to point out the illogic of blaming the commander in chief for something that most analysts believe is largely outside his control. It is unfair, they argue, for voters to hold the president accountable for high gas prices, just as it would be to blame him for an act of God such as — oh, I don’t know — a hurricane in New Orleans. President Obama can’t control the supply and demand of oil in the short term, they say, so he can’t control gas prices. (more)

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he is “deeply concerned” that the leadership of the Catholic Church has “negotiated themselves a space of operation” in Cuba “in exchange for looking the other way,” and expressed concern that Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming trip to the island may “reinforce that arrangement.” (more)

President Barack Obama is jumping aboard Air Force One on a two-day, four-state campaign to show he cares about the rising gasoline prices that are damaging his poll ratings. (more)

Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday, outlining the Obama administration’s efforts regarding oil prices. (more)

President Barack Obama repeatedly says there’s no magic wand to force down gas prices and salve the public’s increasing anger. (more)

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn told The Daily Caller that President Obama’s energy policy should ”keep all the green incentives, but let’s take care of our own oil.” (more)

An increasingly defensive President Barack Obama scheduled another energy speech for the same day that Vice President Joe Biden delivers the first of several hard-edged speeches in the Midwest. (more)

A Danish researcher claims he has discovered yet another reason to combat the rise of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere: it is making us fat. (more)

It’s easy for political junkies to forget that the majority of Americans don’t think the way they do. The average man on the street doesn’t spend his day obsessing over constitutional issues or arguments about the effect the Federal Reserve is having on housing prices. They don’t while away their hours dissecting foreign affairs, breaking down polling data or bickering about the Founding Fathers. It’s unfortunate, but most people are simply too busy living their lives to get involved with the day-to-day nuts and bolts of their government. (more)

As the national average price of gasoline rises above $3.80 per gallon, Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso is claiming that President Obama is “fully responsible” for the price at the pump due to his administration’s lack of an energy policy. (more)

The Senate will vote this week on Senator Jim DeMint’s Senate Amendment 1589, which would eliminate all energy tax subsidies. The DeMint Amendment would end the usual games of Republicans subsidizing fossil fuels and Democrats subsidizing renewables. This vote will tell us, clearly, which senators think we as consumers should be in charge of making our own energy decisions and which senators want to make those decisions for us — at a cost of billions of our tax dollars. (more)

If you thought the Gulf oil spill disaster was over, guess again. The $7.8 billion settlement between BP and thousands of businesses and individuals on the Gulf Coast represents the first of many settlements to come. According to a report by ProPublica, the recent settlement does not address “state lawsuits and federal claims under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act,” which could cost BP over $21 million, and the agreement “has little to do with efforts to assess the extent of environmental damage and to pay for them.” Further complicating the suit is the fact that BP could still face criminal suits and the possibility of being barred from receiving future federal contracts. (more)