The House Energy and Commerce Committee lead by Chairman Fred Upton has released a “framework document” Monday that outlines their legislative goals for energy policy. Congressman Upton said, “Our energy realities have changed dramatically – we’ve gone from bust to boom practically overnight. However, today’s energy policies are lagging far behind.” The four-part outline described… Keep reading →
Pennsylvania Natural Gas Development Leading to Reverse Brain Drain Times Online (Pennsylvania): Matt Curry moved to Texas for work but kept his treasured Steelers season tickets in the hope he might return someday to western Pennsylvania. After graduating from Penn State with a degree in petroleum engineering, Curry didn’t have much of a choice but… Keep reading →
China is the world’s largest coal producer and consumer and the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide emissions. China is also the world’s most populous country and is suffering from high pollution levels due to its unrestrained fossil fuel use. China’s leadership is under a great deal of pressure to both reduce air pollution and to… Keep reading →
First principles are important. Rooting New York Energy Week in the priorities established by a community of volunteers, participants, sponsors and advisors paid off in the second iteration of the event series last month, with panels of exceptional insight, unusually impactful networking and deserved attention for an industry that too often flies under the radar in… 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 →
The final chapter in one of early post-Soviet Russia’s most high-profile oil industry shakeups appears to be coming to a close with the largely symbolic pardon of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of Yukos. The company was one of Russia’s largest oil companies by reserves and production during the free-wheeling privatizations of the 1990’s when Soviet… Keep reading →
The oil and gas industry often bemoans the inefficiencies, permitting delays and duplicated efforts it says result from overlapping regulations at local, state and federal levels. Energy companies are now getting some help addressing this issue from 10 US state governors – who preside over the lion’s share of US oil and gas production –… Keep reading →
Is the Renewable Fuel Standard broken beyond repair? It depends who you ask, but it’s certainly problematic. The RFS enforced by the EPA was originally envisioned as a way to get more biofuel into the US transportation fuel market, but changing technology and consumption patterns have required continual adjustments to the law. The EPA recently… Keep reading →
The failed nomination of Ron Binz to be the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which was formalized with his withdrawal from consideration last month, was unprecedented in Washington. The role of FERC has never been the subject of public of political interest – and I’d argue that few people (in Congress or otherwise)… Keep reading →
Presidential Permit for Keystone XL Not a Foregone Conclusion
By Roman KilisekLast Friday the U.S. Department of State released its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Keystone XL pipeline project. Instantly, many media outlets were only too eager to suggest that with this report the Keystone decision to be made by President Obama is a foregone conclusion; namely, in favor of the controversial project.… Keep reading →