"Big Oil" is not to blame for the skyrocketing price of oil. Rather, domestic energy policy and international instability are to blame for rising prices.

Unlocking "unconventional" energy requires unconventional politics, and that's one resource that is genuinely scarce among today's backwards-looking bureaucrats and green interest groups.

If the nation truly wants to address the wild roller coaster of price swings, it's important to understand the factors that affect prices.

It's tempting to call the shameful taxpayer subsidy for electric cars - vehicles that are unaffordable for all but a small number of wealthy Americans - this nation's costly little secret.

SymphonyIRI reports that “57 percent of consumers are feeling increased financial strain when gas prices increase, and more than four in ten say high gas prices make it difficult to meet monthly expenses,” based on polls conducted in the second quarter of 2011. Furthermore, 49 percent of consumers plan to reduce grocery spending if gas prices climb another 50 cents. What can be done?

The average American would believe that the nation's need for substantial nuclear fuel, oil, natural gas, and coal will soon be a distant memory, based on the Obama administration's strident emphasis on developing "alternative" energy sources. The reality, however, is quite different.

In a just-published piece in Tax Notes, AEI economists Kevin Hassett and Alan Viard explain how targeted tax increases on big oil companies pose significant risks to the economy.