The FRAC Act is reintroduced to implement federal level regulations to protect groundwater resources from potential risks associated with hydraulic fracturing. On May 9, 2013, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Rep. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) reintroduced the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act, a bill first proposed by DeGette in 2008. The 2013 version signifies a… Keep reading →
Impending Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations governing utilities’ cooling water intake and discharge could force some power plants to close, according to Black & Veatch Energy Chief Executive Dean Oskvig. Electricity production accounts for 38% of US water usage. In many cases, cooling water is drawn directly from a source such as a river or… Keep reading →
The ongoing debate over how and whether hydraulic fracturing poses a threat to the environment covers a whole host of issues – land use, earthquakes, drinking water contamination, methane emissions, and even the sustainability of fossil fuel use. While some issues remain mired in a lack of hard data or fundamental philosophical differences, companies… Keep reading →
EPA’s Science Advisory Board will form an independent panel to provide transparent feedback on its 2014 draft report on hydraulic fracturing and its impact on drinking water resources.
On March 25, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) independent Science Advisory Board announced formation of a panel of independent experts to review the agency’s hydraulic fracturing research report,which is to be completed in 2014. The 31-member Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel will review and provide scientific research on the EPA’s Congressionally-mandated draft report on the potential impacts of fracturing on drinking water. Keep reading →
Government agencies tasked with US energy policy are “like an orchestra without a conductor,” says former North Dakota Senator Bryan Dorgan, now part of a panel of experts urging the second Obama administration to change the way it approaches energy.
Dorgan, a Democrat, is part of a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) energy project that’s hammering out policy recommendations for the second Obama administration and the incoming Congress. The recommendations are due to be finished right after the inauguration. Keep reading →
Taxing carbon could reduce US consumption of fossil fuels and significantly cut the yawning U.S. budget deficit but would affect low-income people the hardest unless offsets are built into it, economists and tax experts said on Tuesday.
As Congress and the White House seek alternatives to the “fiscal cliff” of sharp tax hikes and spending cuts set to kick in on January first next year, experts on fiscal and environmental policy gathered at the American Enterprise Institute for a day-long discussion on a possible major new source of revenue that would also cut carbon emissions. Keep reading →
Chevron estimates that the abundance of cheap natural gas in the US will be short-lived, according to one of its key strategy staff.
Andre Peterhans, manager of strategic planning, last week told a group at the BERC Energy Symposium at UC Berkeley that “$2 gas has perhaps come and gone”. Keep reading →
Touted by movie stars, discussed in presidential debates, solar and wind energy are the technological ‘it girls’ of our time. Meanwhile, combined heat and power, 100 years old and shaped like a box, can’t get a date with popular culture.
Such was the lament that threaded through last week’s annual gathering in Washington, D.C. of about 120 industry supporters of CHP, as the technology is more commonly known (for those who know it). Keep reading →
White House officials brought together dozens of senior government leaders and private sector entrepreneurs Monday, including Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, to demonstrate how energy data is fueling new products and services aimed at promoting greater energy efficiency in America.
The “Energy Datapalooza“was the latest in a series of White House-sponsored events designed to showcase innovative applications using government data – this one focused on the energy sector – hosted by Federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. Keep reading →
Companies are at the leading edge of wind globally, not least in the US. Starbucks recently sent a joint letter with 18 other US companies to Congress to request an extension of the Production Tax Credit which has helped grow installed capacity.
Ben & Jerry’s, Clif Bar, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co, The North Face, Sprint, Starbucks, Symantec, Timberland and Yahoo! are just a selection of household corporate names that understand the value of a sustainable wind industry to the consumer and the bottom line. Keep reading →
