Plans are underway for upcoming rallies to be held in Canton, Ohio, on September 7 and Farmington, N.M. and Joliet, Ill., on September 8. In the meantime, check out the video below from yesterday's kick-off rallies in Texas.

Thousands of America's energy workers attended the rallies in Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, and many expressed their sincere concern for America's energy future.

Why is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in such a hurry to grant a waiver allowing E15 to be sold in the marketplace?

E15 is a fuel blend containing 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. At present, only blends containing up to 10 percent ethanol are permitted, but ethanol producers are pushing for higher ethanol content. EPA has indicated it will make a decision on E15 this fall, despite the fact that scientific research on the fuel won't be completed until 2011.

Thousands of people from all walks of life are expected to participate in rallies for jobs and the economy tomorrow, Sept. 1. They will gather at three venues in Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, Texas, where they will make their voices heard.

Some of the attendees are likely to be energy workers whose jobs are on the line due to the offshore drilling moratorium and the threat of higher energy taxes. But they won't be the only people who attend.

In related news today:

The study states that "as a result of the oil spill, the future costs of drilling and operating in the Gulf will rise considerably" due to the following factors: 

This year the nation is facing a similar situation. The United States is struggling to overcome the worst recession since The Great Depression, and economists say the sputtering recovery is not producing new jobs. Some 15 million Americans are out of work.

"The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy Through Innovation" claims that spending has put the United States "on track" to:

• Double domestic renewable energy generation capacity by 2012;
• Cut solar power costs in half by 2015; and
• Cut electric vehicle battery costs by half by 2013.

Rarely does anyone write about oil's benefits to the health, prosperity and well being of people all over the globe. It was refreshing, therefore, to read a recent study by Indur Goklany who says oil and other carbon-based fuels should be credited with saving millions of lives.

The faltering economy appears to be a primary reason for a slight drop in U.S. gasoline demand. According to API's Monthly Statistical Report issued this morning, U.S. gasoline deliveries (a measure of demand) fell by 0.03 percent in July as compared to the same period a year ago. Except for 2008, it was the lowest July gasoline demand figure since 2003.

After taking a series of potshots at the American Petroleum Institute in his Sunday column ("Big Oil has it backward," Page D1), Loren Steffy closes with: "We need to proceed cautiously with new drilling and move quickly to draft new regulations that are broad and flexible enough to raise drilling standards without stifling a vital energy source."