ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Barack Obama has assured Florida Gov. Rick Scott that his state will have "no unmet needs" as it responds to extreme weather and flooding from Tropical Storm Debby.
White House spokesman Jay Carney says Obama expressed his condolences for the loss of life, as well as the extensive storm damage. Carney says Obama told Scott the federal government would be in close contact with the state and stood ready to provide additional assistance if necessary.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil declined Monday as Spain's banking crisis added to concerns about the troubled European economy.
A tropical storm also moved away from the heart of America's oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, reducing the chances for a sustained disruption in U.S. supplies.
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil fell to near $79 a barrel Monday in Asia as Europe's economic woes offset a supply disruption from a storm that shut down about a quarter of crude output in the Gulf of Mexico.
Benchmark oil for August delivery was down 38 cents at $79.38 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.56 to settle at $79.76 in New York on Friday.
In London, Brent crude for August delivery was down 60 cents at $90.38 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The Energy Information Administration said coal's market share for electricity generation rebounded since March 2012 on higher natural gas prices, MarketWatch reports.
Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe switched his position on offshore drilling of the state's coast, supporting a pro-drilling bill introduced by Virginia's Democratic senators, The Washington Post reports.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer urged NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane to complete an investigation and hold a public hearing before allowing the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to restart, Southern California Public Radio reports.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., called for a GAO report on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's procedures for determining the costs of new regulations, Platts reports.
FracFocus, an industry-backed registry for hydraulic fracturing chemicals, will update its system to allow regulators to search through a database of chemicals next week, Bloomberg reports.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent four staffers to assist Gabriel Gomez in the Massachusetts Senate special election, Roll Call reports.
A group of two dozen Senate Republicans urged President Obama against making Keystone XL pipeline approval contingent on "unrelated" climate change policies, The Hill reports.
The American Petroleum Institute issued a white paper projecting new federal rules could increase gasoline prices by as much as 25 cents a gallon, The Washington Examiner reports.
California Jerry Brown contended news media inadequately report on climate change and give too much coverage climate skeptics, The Sacramento Bee reports.
