It’s been a particularly bad day on the energy front. Much of the news has surrounded the Environmental Protection Agency issuing an endangerment finding, saying that global warming and climate change pose a serious threat to public health and safety and thus almost anything that emits carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

But very quietly,

A program to expand oil and gas drilling off the Alaska coast has been canceled by a federal appeals court because of environmental concerns.

A three-judge panel in the District of Columbia says the Bush administration’s Interior Department failed to consider the offshore environmental impact and marine life before approving an oil and gas leasing program in the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi (CHOOK-chee) seas.”

The American Petroleum Institute weighed in, saying,

It would be a disservice to all Americans – and a devastating blow to the economy – if this decision were to delay further the development of vital oil and natural gas resources.

America’s oil and natural gas industry is the backbone of the economy. Development in federal waters off the nation’s coast provides thousands of well-paying jobs, government revenues and the fuel needed to run America’s cars and factories, heat our homes and the feedstock needed to make the materials we use every day.”

More jobs and lower energy costs. Not to mention these jobs would come at no cost to the taxpayer, unlike the “green jobs” created under a federally-subsidized program.  Furthermore, all new drilling would be subject to strict safeguards and would require state-of-the-art technology with a proven track record for limiting the risk of spills. Rules should be put in place to allow for safe exploration and to ensure leases are not slowed by years of red tape and litigation.