Happy New Year, and welcome to the 114th Congress! As Congress returns this month to a changed political landscape with the Republican Party now in control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, ML Strategies is pleased to continue our tradition of offering an Outlook for the new Congress. In addition to the… Keep reading →
Billionaire hedge fund manager turned climate activist Tom Steyer is marshalling resources to help democrats maintain the Senate during this year’s midterm elections, with climate change as a major electoral issue. He’s putting $100 million toward the cause, but some question whether that’s enough to counter the more than $400 million the Koch brothers’ empire… Keep reading →
MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has agreed to buy nearly 450 2.3-megawatt wind turbines – with an estimated collective value of over $1 billion – from Siemens. “MidAmerican is expanding in wind as costs fall.” [Bloomberg] China’s move to tackle air pollution could push major Australian coal mining operations from… Keep reading →
President Obama’s Senior Advisors today recommended he veto two new energy bills which respectively seek to block Interior Department regulations on hydraulic fracturing and speed up oil and gas drilling permits. On November 19th, 2013, the White House Administration issued a pair of statements strongly opposing two new energy bills: (1) H.R. 2728 – Protecting… Keep reading →
Senator Shaheen: “If we can’t do this, it’s going to be very difficult to do anything else on energy policy.” It’s been more than five years since Congress passed a national energy bill. But that doesn’t mean legislators stopped trying. There have been four attempts from Democrats to introduce a national renewable energy standard, with no traction… Keep reading →
With a little less than a year to go until the 2014 mid-term elections, Congress has a number of big decisions looming. Here is a quick look into where we are today, and what we see in front of us over the next year. Post-Shutdown Status On October 16th, the Federal government shutdown came to… Keep reading →
The Senate has unanimously approved a bill to implement the U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement aimed to facilitate offshore drilling cooperation in the Gulf of Mexico. On October 12, 2013, the Senate unanimously approved S. 812 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to implement the 2012 U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement. The agreement establishes a legal… Keep reading →
Chinese renewable energy entrepreneur Li Hejun has officially become a billionaire, thanks to a sharp rise in the market value of his company, Hanergy Solar Group. “Solar energy entrepreneurs and investors in China have been upbeat about the industry’s prospects after the government recently announced higher-than-expected prices will be paid for solar power.” [Forbes] The… Keep reading →
US energy policy is on hold for now, but several top-tier energy issues issues will be front and center when the House and Senate return to Capitol Hill after the August recess, according to Frank Maisano, Senior principal in law firm Bracewell Giuliani’s Government Relations and Strategic Communications Practice. Energy watchers should be on the… Keep reading →
The US is the only country with an Arctic coastline that has not yet ratified the Law of the Sea Treaty, which could put it at a disadvantage in laying claim to what could be substantial resources on its outer continental shelf. The Law of the Sea Treaty – or more formally, the United Nations… Keep reading →
