By Jessica Goad, Manager of Research and Outreach, Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The “battle over energy exports is intensifying” and at the same time we have no coherent national export policy were the primary takeaways from an event called “Power Play:  Fossil Fuels and U.S. Export Strategy” held this morning at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.  Coal, refined petroleum products from tar sands, and natural gas are currently being exported to hungry overseas markets, and the event was designed to look at the implications of these decisions.

Panelists Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA)  bemoaned the fact that the United States does not have a national strategy on exports.  Wyden accused the country of being “on autopilot” to an energy export policy, which could have tremendous economic, social, and environmental consequences.  He expanded:

So I have been somebody who’s been expansionist on trade and think that we ought to have freer trade, have fairer trade, but we also need to have smarter trade.  And allowing energy producers—we haven’t really touched on this—to trade away our international competitiveness and our energy independence by exporting the resources right now without thinking through the implications here of what it means for consumers and our companies doesn’t strike me as a smart trade policy.

Watch it:

As the price of natural gas continues to plummet, pressure to export it as liquefied natural gas has increased, and last year the U.S. was a net exporter of refined petroleum products for the first time since 1949.  As well, the coal industry is preparing to significantly increase exports of American coal overseas.  In response to these trends, the members detailed four critical areas that could be impacted by exports, which they believe need more careful consideration:  domestic energy, national security, consumer prices, and environmental impacts.

A second panel addressed different perspectives on coal exports.  Panelists represented the energy finance industry, Pacific Northwest residents impacted by coal export traffic and terminals, landowners concerned about the impacts of mining, and a labor and environmental alliance.

Markey, who released a report at the event entitled “Drill Here, Sell There, Pay More,” summed up the need for serious thinking on exports by saying:

We should first decide what we want to do for the United States of America.

As international tensions and Wall Street speculation move the national gas price average closer to $4, Republicans have charged that Obama is “intentionally” raising prices. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said the “single biggest obstacle to greater domestic energy production is the Obama administration.”

But, as Business Insider’s Joe Weisenthal points out, attacks that claim we’re “not expanding our domestic energy capacity” like Cornyn’s “couldn’t be more misguided.”

With gas price misinformation everywhere, a few facts on oil production stand out:

– Under the Obama administration, domestic energy production is at its highest level in eight years.

– The U.S. has more oil and natural gas drilling rigs than the rest of the world. The number of rigs have exploded in the past three years to 1,272.

– “After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009,” writes the Houston Chronicle.

– The Energy Department confirmed yesterday that the U.S. exported more oil-product than imported for the first time since 1949.

– The five oil giants benefited from $200 million more profit for every penny rise in quarterly gas prices. Yet the industry still benefits from $40 billion in subsidies.

Clearly, we’re producing more oil:

Strangely, Buzzfeed argues this chart by the Obama administration “demonstrates how to play politics with statistics.” The main reason that our import mix is declining is that production has increased while we move to reduce oil dependence altogether with clean energy investments and new fuel efficiency standards that cut carbon pollution and more than $2.2 million barrels of oil per day.

by Richard W. Caperton

The barrage of dirty energy bills being introduced in Congress is dizzying. With extreme policymakers looking to force the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, cut funding for public transportation and dismantle EPA air quality regulations, the situation is bleak.

But there was some positive movement on clean energy in Congress today.

This morning, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced a bill that would create a federal clean energy standard.  His bill, the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012, would increase the amount of low-carbon power produced in the United States to 80% by 2035, while providing the policy certainty that’s essential to growing the clean energy economy.

In introducing his bill, Bingaman was joined by fellow Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Al Franken (D-MN), and Chris Coons (D-DE), each of whom praised the bill for providing a path forward on fighting climate change.

The Clean Energy Standard Act also has the support of the energy industry. In addition to usual suspects like the American Wind Energy Association and the United States Clean Heat and Power Association, GE Energy and NextEra Energy Resources are supporting Bingaman’s approach.

In previous work, the Center for American Progress has laid out criteria for what a successful clean energy standard would look like:

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