"A White House-backed program that allows property owners to pay for energy improvements like solar panels or efficient furnaces through an additional assessment to their property taxes may soon be shut down."

"A major U.S. government agency has thrown up a new political roadblock for a $12-billion TransCanada Pipelines project by questioning the need for a new pipeline to carry bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to American refineries."

"The ethanol industry is feverishly lobbying lawmakers in an effort to hang onto billions of dollars in subsidies that are set to expire — although there appears to be some discord on the message front."

"Just got confirmation from several Senate offices about what is actually going to be in the package Democrats put forward next week. In a nutshell, this is going to be a very tiny package, with little in the way of energy measures. I'm not even sure you can call it an energy package at this point."

"A federal judge on Wednesday stopped companies from developing oil and gas wells on billions of dollars in leases off Alaska's northwest coast, saying the federal government failed to follow environmental law before it sold the drilling rights."

"Three out of every four lobbyists who represent oil and gas companies previously worked in the federal government, a proportion that far exceeds the usual revolving-door standards on Capitol Hill, a Washington Post analysis shows."

"Senate Democrats appear unsure how to proceed on major energy legislation, with just days remaining on the Senate's summer schedule. The uncertainty is prompting grim forecasts for the passage of any bill -- one containing climate provisions or not."

"Gov. Charlie Crist and legislative leaders took turns Tuesday blasting each other for the ill-fated special session he called to get a constitutional amendment on November’s ballot to ban offshore oil-drilling in Florida waters."

"The U.S. Interior Department issued its first shallow-water drilling permit since offshore exploration companies were required to meet two sets of new safety regulations in response to the BP oil spill, a department official said on Monday."

"Can light-colored rooftops and roads really curb carbon emissions and combat global climate change? The idea has been around for years, but now, a new study by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that is the first to use a global model to study the question has found that implementing cool roofs and cool pavements in cities around the world can not only help cities stay cooler, they can also cool the world, with the potential of canceling the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions."