Our guest bloggers are Daniel J. Weiss, a Senior Fellow and the Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Sam Schiller.

On Friday, President Bush, noting that “demand is outstripping supply,” went on the attack about rising gas prices:

You know, these members of Congress, particularly the Democratic leadership, must address this issue before they go home for this upcoming August break. They have a responsibility to explain to their constituents why we should not be drilling for more oil here in America to take the pressure off of gasoline prices.

Bush is peddling drill-drill-drill snake oil. In fact, his conservative allies clamoring for the Big Oil agenda of drilling without borders today are the same ones that blocked measures to reduce gasoline demand during the last decade while collecting exorbitant Big Oil contributions. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) hypocritically accuses liberals of “inaction” and “callous indifference as American families and small businesses struggle with $4 per gallon gasoline.” Boehner and his cohorts in the House of Representatives callously did Big Oil’s bidding by blocking badly overdue improvements in fuel economy for decades until they — and Bush’s veto threats — were overwhelmed in 2007.

During this decade alone, there have been four bipartisan efforts to modestly raise fuel economy standards, save oil, and reduce gasoline costs. Reps. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Ed Markey (D-MA) offered various fuel economy amendments to energy bills in 2001, 2003, and 2005. New congressional leadership in 2007 defeated conservative opposition, passing into law increased fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020, the first increase in 32 years. Read more

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has been garnering loads of attention lately, from her confrontation with coal to speculation over her becoming Barack Obama’s running mate for Vice President.

Climate Progress has been closely tracking the coal debacle [thanks to our own intrepid Kansan, Kari]. This week Gov. Sebelius sat down with Grist to talk about her state’s energy crossroads, and our entire nation’s should she one day stand by Obama’s side on the campaign.

As is easily observed by the coal plant bills’ tenure in the Kansas legislature, Sebelius is not working with a progressive set of politicians whose sights are set toward the future. Attempts to use the legislature to make political advances for renewable energy would fall dead in seconds. One of the highlights of Grist’s interview with Sebelius is her describing how she’s gotten her state to work toward renewable electricity goals, with no official policy in place:

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