I bet you didn’t know it was National Energy Action Month. Until today, neither did I.

Carlton Carroll at Energy Tomorrow sees that rhetorically, the administration is making progress. In 2010, the President’s proclamation said that the U.S. suffered from an “overdependence on fossil fuels,” and the 2011 proclamation didn’t mention oil or natural gas as components of the nation’s energy strategy. This year’s proclamation mentions oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and renewables—the works:

As we lay the foundation for a clean energy economy, we must also take advantage of the abundant energy resources we have here at home and reduce our dependence on oil imports. That is why my Administration continues to open millions of acres for oil and gas exploration. Today, domestic oil production is at the highest level in nearly a decade, while oil imports have fallen to the lowest level in nearly 20 years.

Thanks to pioneering new technologies developed right here at home, America is also now the world's leading producer of natural gas. As production has increased, it has boosted our manufacturing, dramatically reduced prices, and created more jobs for the American people. Along with advances in renewable energy and increased efficiency, our investments in natural gas can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

We’re all behind this. But why does the administration exalt the shale energy boom while at the same time try to tie it down with new regulations on hydraulic fracturing? Shale has been the job-creating, energy story

I have another question for the administration: Yes, we’re producing a lot of oil and natural gas, but why has production fallen on federal lands? It sounds odd to take credit for accomplishments that they had no control over.

To truly embrace National Energy Action Month here are three ways that the administration can take action right now to improve America’s energy security:

1. Stop the push to regulate hydraulic fracturing at the federal level, leaving it to state governments that are protecting the environment while allowing energy development.
2. Open more areas to offshore exploration. Keeping large portions of the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, and Atlantic coasts off-limits is a big missed opportunity.
3. Approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline which would create thousands of energy and construction jobs.

These suggestions will boost energy production, create jobs, and move us closer to the “all-of-the-above” that administration only pays lip service to.