The President's remarks about oil and natural gas development during the State of the Union speech Wednesday triggered many thoughtful--and thought-provoking--comments from bloggers around the country.

We are encouraged by the President's words that decisions need to be made about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.

These are important and necessary decisions for the American people and the American economy. Greater access to America's vast oil and natural gas resources would bring more domestic energy, thousands of American jobs, billions in government revenues and less reliance on imported energy.

There's a lot to like about the planned Virginia offshore lease sale. It's believed the leasing area could contain 130 million barrels of oil and 1.14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

If energy companies are allowed to develop this offshore energy, they could create about 2,600 jobs, make about $8 billion in capital investments and generate $271 million in Virginia state and local taxes, providing a huge boost to the Commonwealth's economy.

Today the American Petroleum Institute (API) offered comments responding to allegations that API President and CEO Jack Gerard misrepresented facts about oil and natural gas leasing:

An editorial in today's Investor's Business Daily discusses the administration's pattern of delay when it comes to developing U.S. domestic oil and natural gas resources.

Every credible projection of future U.S. energy demand through 2030 predicts that this nation will need more energy in the coming years, including more oil and natural gas. How is the administration addressing this need?

The President delivers his State of the Union address tomorrow, and we expect the focus to be on jobs, as it should be with 15 million Americans out of work. We welcome the President's move to job creation and the economy and extend our hand to work together toward this worthy goal.

We also hope the President takes the opportunity to recognize the potential of energy development to create more jobs; not only jobs from producing more so-called "green energy," but also from producing more American oil and natural gas.

In today's episode, I speak with Col. Marty Sullivan about energy and military operations coexisting in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Col. Sullivan is president of the Commonwealth Consulting Corporation, which just completed a study commissioned by Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) on proposed offshore oil exploration in the Eastern Gulf and its impact on training missions.

With the legislative agenda apparently changing in the U.S. Senate, it appears that climate legislation proponents are looking for ways to enact a greenhouse gas (GHG) measure by adding it to a jobs bill. According to the Houston Chronicle today, the Senate is expected to take up a jobs-creation package soon, following the House's passage of a $154 billion measure last month.

There's no doubt that the economy and jobs are top priorities for a majority of Americans.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a new national air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). According to EPA's news release, the new one-hour standard of 100 parts-per-billion (ppb) will "reduce health threats for millions of Americans"--particularly in urban areas near major roadways.

But how strong is the link between NO2 at the level proposed and health? Not very. Today API said the new NO2 standard is based on "faulty science."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) yesterday introduced a bipartisan disapproval resolution to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act.

Calling the proposed regulations an "economic train wreck," she told the Senate:

Here's an excellent example of how duplicative regulations can cause problems for the economy and American consumers. At issue is the EPA's new authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act.

As we reported yesterday, hydraulic fracturing has led to a boom in U.S. natural gas production in recent years, greatly increasing the nation's supplies of this clean-burning fuel. It has been so successful, in fact, the United States has overtaken Russia as the world's largest natural-gas producer.

"A great American success story." That's how Bob R. Simpson, chairman of the board and founder of XTO Energy Inc., described his company during today's congressional hearing--but the phrase also can be applied to the recent boom in U.S. natural gas production.

API has filed suit in Tennessee over a new law that allows marketers, including owners/operators of convenience stores, to blend ethanol into gasoline. In general, the blending process occurs at fuel terminals where oil companies add ethanol to create fuels that are ultimately sold to the consumer.

For the past week, Americans have been watching the tragedy of the Haitian earthquake--the pancaked buildings, the human suffering and the overwhelming need for food, water and medical supplies. The United States has responded by sending humanitarian aid on a massive scale via ships, airplanes and helicopters, and is working to deliver supplies to several locations.

This effort takes people, money, and a coordinated response among many organizations--and just as important--it takes fuel.

There's an old adage among economists that says, "If you tax something, you get less of it." Apparently Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania isn't familiar with that expression.

As reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rendell plans to push for a new tax on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale this year. As he struggles to find revenue for the Commonwealth's coffers, Rendell says, "The tax is appropriate, it's necessary, and it's a big help going forward."

API announced today that U.S. well completions--the number of oil and natural gas wells and dry holes--in the fourth quarter of 2009 climbed by 19 percent over the third quarter.

"It's a monster!" Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon said, referring to his company's seventh natural gas well drilled into the Barnett Shale formation in Texas.

Considering unemployment is at its highest level in almost 30 years, "you'd think the Obama administration would do everything possible to save existing jobs and create new ones," says op-ed author Jim Constantopoulos, a professor of Geology at Eastern New Mexico University in his recent Sun-News op-ed.

With the beginning of a New Year, it's a good time to take a moment to review energy and energy policy in the United States. In this week's episode, I interview John Felmy, API's manager of statistics.

Just 10 miles off the coast of Louisiana, a New Orleans company has made one of the largest Gulf of Mexico energy discoveries in decades. McMoRan Exploration Co. reports that its ultra-deep well in its Davy Jones prospect was drilled in shallow water--only 20 feet deep--down to more than 28,000 feet beneath the ocean floor where the company found huge amounts of natural gas in a 135-feet thick sand formation.

A recent Patriot-News op-ed authored by Michael Whatley of the Consumer Energy Alliance calls Pennsylvania's proposal to adopt a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) "nothing more than a flawed bait-and-switch energy policy."

With the unemployment rate standing at 10 percent, concerns about the economy are trumping support for climate legislation. News reports from around the country indicate a growing unease with legislation or regulations that are aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions due to their potential impact on jobs.

Many parts of the United States are experiencing an Arctic blast today. North Dakota could hit 50 degrees below zero, eastern Nebraska is likely to see temperatures as low as 35 below, while the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic states have received a fresh layer of snow ranging from a foot to a few inches. In the Deep South, citrus growers have been scrambling to protect their trees from overnight temperatures in the 20s.

The record cold weather has helped to push up crude oil prices this week. When the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) closed yesterday, the price of oil stood at $82.66 a barrel. Because there are 42 gallons in a barrel of oil, this is equal to $1.97 per gallon.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed to tighten U.S. ground-level ozone standards to protect people as well as plants. Under the new guidelines, the "primary" standard aimed at protecting public health would be reduced to 0.060 and 0.070 parts per million (ppm) measured over eight hours from the 0.075 ppm level set in March 2008.

In a move that should raise eyebrows across the country, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) last week agreed to adopt a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from vehicles and possibly from home heating-oil furnaces. Although on the surface this agreement might sound environmentally friendly, it's likely to do more harm than good.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced the imposition of new regulatory hurdles that could slow or prohibit drilling for oil and natural gas on energy-rich federal lands.

In what has become increasingly familiar double-talk from this administration, Sec. Salazar spoke of the importance of domestic oil and natural gas, while making it more difficult to produce this oil and gas, put more Americans back to work and help restore our nation's economy.

As we begin a New Year, many of us think about New Year's resolutions. Some people want to find more time to exercise amid busy schedules, while others hope to learn more about a particular topic that interests them.

If you're interested in learning more about issues affecting you--particularly energy issues--you're in luck. Today, we're launching our newest interactive, College of Knowledge, where YOU are the student.

As part of Fox News' "Job Hunt" series, today a segment aired about shale gas, calling it "the new American gold rush of the 21st century," and discussing how its development is creating jobs--even during this time of economic distress.

The most massive fuel transition ever attempted in the United States has been occurring quite smoothly over the past few years without so much as a hiccup. It is the slow and steady movement from Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel to Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel that started in 2006 and will continue through 2014.

American motorists drove fewer miles in 2009, in part due to unemployment. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, Trilby Lundberg, author of the Lundberg Letter, says commuting to work--one of the most important reasons for driving--has been "hit in the guts" by unemployment.