The Obama administration on Friday released a national strategy for the Arctic, in advance of Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip next week to Sweden to attend a conference of eight polar nations.

In it, the White House outlines its approach to some key Arctic issues, even as it acknowledges that there are conflicting -- and even contradictory -- goals and challenges in the region as it becomes more accessible because of melting polar ice caused by global warming.

Those challenges include the possibility of additional oil and gas exploration, new fishing territory and increased transit and even tourism. And they come as the U.S. has to grapple with the question of how much the oil and gas exploration will contribute to the very conditions that are opening the Arctic to more exploration.

"Our pioneering spirit is naturally drawn to this region for the economic opportunities it presents and in recognition of the need to protect and conserve this unique, valuable, and changing environment," Obama said in the opening page of the strategy.

Republican senators refused Thursday to attend a scheduled committee vote on President Barack Obama's nominee as the nation's top air and water quality regulator.

At least one Republican senator, Roy Blunt of Missouri, has a hold on Gina McCarthy's nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. And the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, David Vitter of Louisiana, asked McCarthy a record-breaking 653 questions. Those questions, in addition to queries from other Republicans, are considered to be the most ever asked of an administration nominee facing Senate confirmation.

McCarthy serves as the agency’s assistant administrator in charge of air and radiation. The Senate unanimously confirmed her for that job during the first Obama administration. Previously, she worked as a state environmental regulator for Obama’s 2012 opponent, Republican former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The chairwoman of the committee, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., called the GOP move "obstructionist." The vote has been held up for three weeks already to give Republicans time to get their questions answered, Boxer said. They're not going to like the answers, Boxer said, because they don't favor what she called a "pro-pollution fringe philosophy."

Approve the Keystone XL pipeline in the next month, Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and 19 other senators are saying in a letter to the new secretary of state, their former Senate colleague John Kerry.

(Full text of the Feb. 22 letter and Hagan's news release today is here. For the names of those who signed, click on the text link.)

The pipeline would carry oil from the tarsands of Alberta, Canada, to ports on the Gulf of Mexico in Texas (latest McClatchy story on it here). Environmentalists oppose the pipeline because of the heat-trapping emissions from producing and using the oil, and because of threats of spills along the line.

The bipartisan group of senators told Kerry to approve the pipeline quickly. “Further delay will continue to hurt job creation and may damage our relationship with Canada,” they write.

Republicans used their weekly address to discuss energy Saturday, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, outlined a plan for energy efficiency.

“Energy is not a necessary evil.  Energy is good.  And that’s why it is in our national interest to make energy abundant, affordable, clean, diverse, and secure," said Murkowski, top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

She offered about 200 recommendations.  "These span the spectrum of resources and reforms, from the immediate approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to a trust fund for energy research that is paid for with the revenues from new production," Murkowski said.

"Every recommendation in my blueprint is associated with a clear goal for the year 2020.  We can end our dependence on OPEC oil.  We can help make renewable energy more competitive, build on our efficiency gains, and re-establish the supply chain for critical minerals.  We can ensure that research, and not endless regulation, is the force behind technological innovation.  Through sensible regulatory reforms, we can prevent the misuse of environmental laws and allow projects to proceed—and all the while maintaining the highest environmental standards in the world."

She urged listeners to go to energy.senate.gov to learn more.

President Obama says in a close of the year interview today that fixing the country's "broken immigration system is a top priority."

He vowed in the Meet the Press interview to introduce legislation in the first year. "We've talked about it long enough, we know how we can fix it. We can do it in a comprehensive way that the American people support. That's something we should get done."

Obama says his second priority will be to "stabilize the economy and make sure it's growing." That will include deficit reduction -- and spending on infrastructure, including roads, bridges and schools.

He also called energy a priority, saying the U.S. could become an energy exporter, but that it has to be balanced with environmental concerns.

House of Representatives Republicans will formally pick committee chairmen Wednesday for the 113th Congress, which starts in January.

Here are the recommendations from the House Republican Steering Committee:

Agriculture – Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)

Appropriations – Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)

Armed Services – Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA)

Budget – Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Education and the Workforce – Rep. John Kline (R-MN)

Energy and Commerce – Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)

Financial Services – Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

Foreign Affairs – Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)

Homeland Security – Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX)

Intelligence – Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)

Judiciary – Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)

Natural Resources – Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)

Oversight and Government Reform – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Rules – Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Science, Space, and Technology – Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Small Business – Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)

Transportation and Infrastructure – Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA)

Veterans’ Affairs – Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL)

Ways and Means – Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to unveil Thursday a series of steps aimed at moving the nation closer to energy independence.

He'll speak in New Mexico, and offer a bluepring tht includes empoewring states to control onshore energy development, open offshore areas for such development, and pursue a North American Energy Partnership.

Other highlights: ensuring "accurae assessment" of energy resources, regulatory reform that restores "transparency and fairness to permitting and regulation," and encouraging private sector-led energy technology development.

To read more: http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/mitts-view/2012/08/mitt-romney-sets-goal-north-american-energy-independence-2020

The East and West Coasts are off limits for new oil and gas leases in the 2012-17 period. So is the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico that's currently under a congressional moratorium. That's the announcement this afternoon from the Interior Department. The five-year plan puts all new oil and gas offshore leases in the rest of the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.  

“Put simply, this program opens the vast majority of known offshore oil and gas resources for development over the next five years and includes a cautious but forward-looking leasing strategy for the Alaska Arctic,”  Salazar said in a statement.

In the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, the department says there are environmental concerns that require it to put some areas off limits (background story here). The Chukchi and Cook Inlet leases are scheduled for 2016, and the Beaufort lease for 2017. The department says scheduling them late in the five-year plan gives more time to gather scientific information on the reserves and the potential environmental costs of tapping them.

A federal appeals court panel today ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency acted properly in its approach to setting the nation’s first limits on greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded (read the ruling here) that EPA’s finding that greenhouse gases are dangerous and its emission standards for cars and light trucks were “neither arbitrary nor capricious.” It said the agency was “unambiguously correct” in its interpretation of the law.

And it said there were no grounds to challenge its approach to regulating only large amounts of greenhouse gases from large sources.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today reported this has been the warmest spring in the Lower 48 states since record-keeping began in 1895. Also it's been the warmest year-to-date and the warmest 12-month period. More details from NOAA here.