Ken Cohen, vice president of public and government affairs for Exxon Mobil Corporation, blogged his company’s reaction to President Obama’s speech on energy policy Wednesday.

Cohen’s commentary at the Perspectives Blog includes recommendations the Administration should undertake if the President really wants to achieve his stated goals, to “produce more oil (and gas) in America to help lower oil prices, create jobs and enhance our energy security.” It’s a very clear, very good statement.

From “Actions speak louder than words – especially when it comes to energy policy“:

1. Approve the Keystone XL pipeline to bring Canadian oil to U.S. refineries. We can’t take advantage of Canada’s vast oil resources if we can’t get them here. Everything is ready to go – except government approval. Instead, the State Department announced another delay just a few weeks ago.
2. Drop plans in the federal budget for billions of dollars in new, punitive taxes on U.S. oil and gas companies that will divert money from investments in new energy supplies. New taxes make U.S. companies less competitive internationally, and they discourage investment in energy supplies at home.
3. Open up federal lands for oil and gas development. The tired and discredited “use it or lose it” talking point can’t hide the fact that there are millions of acres off limits to development of American energy resources. One recent study found that reversing drilling bans on federal lands could generate $1.7 trillion in government revenue over the life of the resource, create 160,000 jobs and increase U.S. oil output by as much as 2 million barrels a day by 2030.

Those three simple actions would send a message to the country that the president is serious about developing an energy policy that – as he says – will produce more oil in America, create jobs and enhance our energy security.

The Wall Street Journal also interviewed Cohen for its report, “Obama Adds New Luster to Old Calls for Energy Independence.“

Jeff Moad, executive editor of “Managing Automation,” notes investment plans by United Airlines, Intel and Exxon Mobil to urge manufacturers to prepare for recovery. In a blog post, “Manufacturing Out of the Recession,” he writes:

Such moves are certainly not without risk. True, the tide of bad economic news is slowing. But 345,000 more unemployed in the U.S. in May and a 9.4 jobless rate, plus many billions of toxic liabilities (these are not assets) remaining on banks’ books make it hard to predict when a turnaround will occur and just how rapid or robust the recovery will be.

Still, now would be a good time for manufacturers to begin to change the capital-preservation-at-all-costs, bunker mentality that has dominated over the past 18 months and position themselves for recovery.

How?

• Do some bargain hunting of your own.
• Rethink global supply chain risks and opportunities.
• Position yourself to continue to benefit from the efficiency gains you’ve put in place over the past 18 months.
• Create a real workforce development plan

With more details at each bullet.

Managing Automation’s blog is The Edge Blog.

For more evidence why planning for recovery is not completely quixotic, see the last news release from the NAM’s chief economist, David Huether, “Huether Says ‘Storm Clouds Are Starting To Part‘”

We’re doing our part. Today, we created or saved one job. By coming to work.

Investor’s Business Daily editorializes today on Chevron and Exxon Mobil defending themselves against agglomerations of activists* who have organized around multibillion-dollar lawsuits led by U.S. trial lawyers. Short version: Fighting back against outrageous attacks is virtuous.

From “Big Oil Bites Back“:

Wednesday, Chevron was descended upon by a zoo-full of San Francisco leftists pushing rain forest sentimentalism, Burma, and other pet causes dear to the no-soap crowd. They journeyed all the way to San Ramon, Calif. to shout “Shame on you!” and “No blood for oil” and worse yet to make demands on the company.

Among them, a vociferous crew calling on Chevron to settle quickly with an Ecuadorean activist group with a guerrilla-like name: El Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia.

El Frente has a $27 billion pollution lawsuit against Chevron. Its case is worthless. Chevron hasn’t operated in Ecuador since 1992 and got a clean bill of health from Ecuador in 1998. Any pollution now is a product of Ecuador’s mismanaged state oil company.

But that hasn’t stopped the formidable publicity machine that’s roped in the gullible media covering this case. The new demand, echoed in the press, is for Chevron to “settle” with El Frente.

Chevron has mounted an aggressive PR campaign that seeks to bring facts and balance to the public debate, and the efforts are bearing fruit. Shareholders on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a resolution meant to increase the pressure for a settlement.

Chevron’s CEO David O’Reilly is forthright in response to the activists, too. From AP:

When one speaker took the microphone to talk about a report by environmental organizations titled “The True Cost of Chevron,” O’Reilly called it “insulting to our employees and I think it deserves the trash can.”

Our view of this “report” is that it’s a well-packaged collection of flimsy, political attacks. Of interest is how much money was spent to publish and promote the thing. But you be the judge.

This week Chevron also announced a new website to respond to attacks about Ecuador: http://theamazonpost.com/

* Agglomeration is the collective noun to describe any larger grouping of activists — an agglomeration of activists. Like murder of crows. Or nattering of Naderites.

† Disclosure: Chevron has organized a trip to Ecuador for bloggers I will be joining. The company has made no demands as to what, if anything, I write. Chevron is an NAM member.

Three from the government view of things, three from the private sector…

Carbon Tax, Eh? From the Winnipeg Sun: “Last Tuesday, as the rest of Canada celebrated our nation’s birthday, left coasters awoke to a new “green” era and an extra 2.4 cents per litre at the pump. This startling introduction to B.C.’s provincial carbon tax is just the beginning with plans in place to increase the province’s take to 7.2 cents a litre by 2012. That of course is on top of all existing tax rates applied to fossil fuels, all fossil fuels.” Works out to about a dime a gallon U.S., but hey, they’re just getting started.

Wiedergeburt von Kernkraft  From Deutsche Welle: “European Commission President Barroso praised the value of nuclear energy in a German newspaper interview on Sunday, firing up the ongoing debate in the country — and the cabinet — already split over the issue. Jose Manuel Barroso said that nuclear power could provide at least a temporary solution to the ongoing energy crisis.” On the books is a plan to shut down Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors by 2021.

Conserve, Or Else:  From Deutsche Welle: “EU energy ministers are considering making energy efficiency legally binding across the Union, French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said on Saturday, July 5, in Paris.  ‘But this is very difficult to evaluate, and so we must work out many details before it can be applied,” Borloo told DPA news agency.’”

Drill, & Save, Now… An editorial in The New York Post: “Funny how quickly $4-a-gallon gas can smoke out hypocrites – as last week’s Pew Research poll, citing a dramatic spike in the share of Americans demanding more energy sources and less environmental protection, shows. The nation, it seems, now favors developing new sources over “saving the planet” by a hefty 3-2 margin. And get this: The biggest shift came among – yep! – liberals. Seems sanctimonious tree-huggers and caribou-coddlers have their price: $4 gas.”

Private Investment in Iraq: An editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Iraq’s Oil Surge: “Here’s a thought experiment: Assume that Iraq’s democratic government declared it was nationalizing its oil industry, a la Venezuela or Saudi Arabia, while excluding American companies from the country. How do you think U.S. politicians would react? With angry cries of ‘ingratitude’ and ‘this is what Americans died for’? Of course they would, led no doubt by that critic for all reasons, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. So it is passing strange that Mr. Schumer and other Senators are now assailing Iraq precisely because it is opening up to foreign oil companies, especially to U.S. majors like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. For some American pols, everything that happens in Iraq is bad news, especially when it’s good news for the U.S.”

Arkansas, an Energy State: From AP: “SEARCY, Ark. (AP) _ As drilling companies continue to sink natural gas wells in White County and elsewhere in the Fayetteville Shale play, business leaders are lobbying for improved roads and environmental groups are concerned not enough attention is being paid to potential long-term effects.” The Fayetteville formation is a Barnett Shale analog, made more valuable through high prices and technological advances.