The US federal government has long had a hand in guiding development of the country’s energy sector. In some cases, such as the Department of Energy’s role in the early stages of research and development that helped usher in the shale boom, this has been hailed as a success. In others, such as the highly-publicized… Keep reading →
As the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard is discussed at hearings on Capital Hill this week, the two sides of the debate are taking to the airwaves to promote their agendas. The refiners and oil companies want RFS repealed because they say it’s broken and dangerous, while the renewable fuels folks say Big Oil is just… Keep reading →
A high frequency energy trading firm is being charged by federal regulators Monday with manipulating markets through “spoofing,” an increasingly frequent scheme in which false bids are submitted and then pulled back, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission said. The civil action against Panther Energy Trading of Red Bank, N.J., and owner Michael J. Coscia, is… Keep reading →
DOE released a report examining the impacts of climate change on the nation’s energy and electricity infrastructure, including an assessment of ongoing efforts and potential opportunities to improve the energy sector’s climate resilience. On July 11, 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) released a report examining current and future impacts of climate change on… Keep reading →
Phelim McAleer: “He’s a very skillful filmmaker,” referring to Josh Fox, of “Gasland” and “Gasland 2” fame. “He’s one of the most trusted scientists in America at the moment, even though he has zero qualifications. I don’t accept that, but a lot of Americans do.” McAleer is a free-market conservative and creator of “Frack Nation,”… Keep reading →
Early indications of the direction the newly activist Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are deeply worrying, not just for the power industry but for the entire economy, as well as for the future of the agency’s own necessary and important work in overseeing the evolving US electricity sector. Not many people cry for banks when regulators… Keep reading →
Regulation of the energy sector tends to lag technological developments. This has been an underlying issue in heated debates about the safety and dangers of hydraulic fracturing, and whether it should be regulated at the federal level. A group of energy experts convened at OurEnergyPolicy.org for an online discussion of how waste produced during the… Keep reading →
Mexico’s National Action Party (PAN) has outlined a proposal for energy market reform, which entails amendments to the constitution removing obstacles that have blocked private investment in the country’s oil and gas sector. “It is an unsustainable, non-viable model that needs to be thoroughly reformed in order to return to productivity,” PAN party chairman Gustavo… Keep reading →
A U.S. Court of Appeals vacated a 2011 EPA rule that delayed GHG regulations for biomass facilities for three years, finding that EPA’s decision was groundless. On July 12, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of conservationist groups that challenged a 2011 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)… Keep reading →
By John Mecklin The LA Times and U-T San Diego thoroughly covered the local nuclear power plant’s closing, but the wider energy story is still waiting to be told. SANTA BARBARA, CA — Nuclear power plants are complex, interdependent systems of systems, and the state and federal bureaucracies that regulate them are labyrinthine. Because anything to do with radiation… Keep reading →
