In this episode, I interview Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau, on the potential impact of climate change legislation on agriculture.

Late last week, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced that they will shorten lease sale terms on nearly 36 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The proposed plan would set five-year terms for leases in water depths of 1,300 to 2,600 feet, instead of the standard eight-year term. Leases in water depths between 2,600 and 5,200 feet would run for seven years instead of 10.

Last week, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) released a report--"Top Ten Energy Myths"--that confronts ten common myths about America's energy sources, uses and risks, utilizing U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

On Tuesday, yet another voice spoke out against the proposed climate legislation under consideration in Congress. This time it was Margo Thorning, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), speaking before the Senate Finance Committee.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today voted to send the Kerry-Boxer climate bill to the Senate floor without amendments. Only Democrats were in attendance for the vote, and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mt.) voted against the bill, saying he would withhold his support contingent on the adoption of some pro-agriculture amendments.

A recent poll shows that the more Americans learn about climate legislation, the less they like it. Especially when they realize that it will take money out of their pockets.

How much money? About $2,300 per year per average U.S. household, according to the American Farm Bureau. That's nearly $200 a month.

In this episode, I interview Alan Gelder of Wood Mackenzie, who recently conducted a study on the potential impact of climate change legislation on refiners.

"Remarkable" was the word used by Energy Information Administrator Richard Newell last week to describe the sharp rise in U.S. natural gas reserves. In a report issued by his agency last week, Newell noted that U.S. proven natural gas reserves rose 3 percent in 2008.

The report also showed that natural gas reserves in shale formations rose an astonishing 51 percent over 2007. "This year's report underscores for a second year the technological shift in domestic exploration and production from conventional reserves to unconventional shales," Newell said.

The ongoing debate over the Kerry-Boxer climate bill has tended to focus primarily on two issues: the bill's potential costs and its proposed environmental benefits. But there are at least two other critically important items that have not been addressed adequately by the bill's sponsors. Both were mentioned briefly at yesterday's hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.

Today, AAA reported that yesterday's nationwide retail gasoline prices climbed to a nationwide $2.695 per gallon average, the highest average price this year. Despite this sharp gasoline price increase, which has been driven by strong crude oil prices, the federal government has done little to help increase the supply of domestic crude oil, the basic feedstock of gasoline.