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May 3, 2013
(The Hill)
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote May 9 on whether to advance the nomination of Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the panel announced Thursday.
McCarthy, who would replace former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, heads the agency’s Office of Air and Radiation.
“Gina McCarthy is a strong, bipartisan candidate and is the right person for the job at this critical time. The EPW Committee’s business meeting is an important step forward in the confirmation process,” Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said in a statement.
McCarthy will likely clear the committee with Democratic support, but Republicans could make the count close.
(The Hill)
The Obama administration said Thursday it would spend more than half a billion dollars to repair and upgrade water treatment plants in New York and New Jersey that released vast amounts of sewage into East Coast waterways after Hurricane Sandy hit.
One research group quickly dismissed the action as a “Band-Aid” and urged more aggressive approach to avoid a repeat of the debacle, citing growing threats of climate change.
An estimated 11 billion gallons of raw sewage flooded waterways and streets from Washington, D.C., to Connecticut after the storm bludgeoned the East Coast in October, prompting public health concerns.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials described geysers of wastewater spraying from manholes, and episodes in which divers had to be sent into underground pools of raw sewage to repair leaks.
(Bloomberg)
Anti-fracking laws passed in two New York towns were upheld by an appeals court, which rejected arguments by a dairy farm and a Norwegian energy company that the bans are superceded by state law.
An appellate panel of the New York State Supreme Court in Albany today ruled that drilling bans in the towns of Dryden and Middlefield don’t conflict with state regulations for the oil and natural-gas industry.
The state law seeks to protect the right of the general public, not just the owners of oil and gas properties, “a goal which is realized when individual municipalities can determine whether drilling activities are appropriate for their respective communities,” the court said.
(News & Observer)
After more than six months of congenial meetings, the N.C. Mining & Energy Commission was set to approve its first fracking rule Friday, perhaps the most important of all the safety rules the commission will write to protect the public and safeguard the environment.
The standard spells out which chemicals fracking operators have to publicly disclose when drilling natural gas wells in North Carolina.
But commissioners learned Thursday the proposal they had approved in committee in March is on ice.
The problem: Fracking giant Halliburton has told North Carolina’s environmental regulators the rule goes too far. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working to get the rule changed.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
When dry weather destroyed Leonard McKissick's soybeans last year, US government-backed insurance paid him $US40,000, the bulk of his loss.
Across the Arkansas Delta this spring, farmers such as McKissick are sowing fields that suffered the worst drought in more than half a century. Even though crops may fail again, landowners are shielded by taxpayers from the full burden of their bad bets.
Drought helped drive the cost of crop insurance to a record $US17.2 billion, the US Department of Agriculture said April 29. The government covers more than 60 per cent of payouts, spending about seven times more than a $US1.4 billion program that helps farmers adapt to climate change.
May 2, 2013
(Detroit News)
When a fire broke out at the Detroit Marathon Oil refinery Saturday, it was a situation requiring automatic evacuation — but while Melvindale residents were told to leave their homes, their Detroit neighbors weren't, prompting outrage among residents and elected officials.
The tank that burned near Interstate 75 and Fort held sour water, which is wastewater produced in refining processes, company officials said.
When the fire started just before 7 p.m., because of the materials involved, it was declared a Level 3 Hazmat emergency, and Melvindale officials evacuated residents in the area, Police Chief Chad Hayse said.
But in Detroit, no evacuation order was given, Detroit Fire Department Senior Chief Doug Lyon said.
(The Times-Picayune)
Louisiana will receive $340 million from BP in early Natural Resource Damage Assessment money for four projects to restore barrier islands and to finance two coastal science centers, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Tuesday in a news conference in Jean Lafitte. The money comes from $1 billion that BP set aside in 2011 to build early projects to compensate for damages to natural resources resulting from the three-month flow of oil resulting from the blowout of BP's Macondo well in April 2010.
The projects include almost $320 million for restoration of Whiskey Island, also known as the Caillou Lake Headlands, in Terrebonne Parish; and the Cheniere Ronquille headland, Shell Island and North Breton Island in Plaquemines Parish. Another $22 million will be spent on the two fish stock research and enhancement centers in Lake Charles and Pointe a la Hache.
(Globe and Mail)
British Columbia will be hit by more oil spills than Enbridge has predicted if the Northern Gateway pipeline is built, says a new risk assessment by Simon Fraser University.
“The overall conclusion of this report is that [the project] has a very high likelihood of a spill … and that the risk of spills has been understated by Enbridge,” says the study, which is to be released Thursday.
Tom Gunton, director of the School of Resource and Environmental Management at SFU, said the study looked at all three components of the project: the pipeline, the marine terminal and tankers. “We found there will be significantly more spills [in all categories],” he said.
(The Hill)
A top Capitol Hill advocate of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline is applauding Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s connection — via his political advocacy group FWD.us — for an advertisement that supports the controversial pipeline.
“Glad Mark Zuckerburg [sic] and @FWD_us are advocating for #jobs and North American #energy independence. #TimeToBuild #KeystoneXL #KXL,” Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) tweeted on Wednesday.
Terry’s tweet is the latest in a political scrum over a recent ad supporting Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that shows Graham praising the Keystone project.
The ad was released by Americans for a Conservative Direction, which is affiliated with FWD.us, a group Zuckerberg recently helped launch to advocate for immigration legislation, education reform and research funding.
(EnergyWire)
HOUSTON -- The resource potential of the booming Bakken Shale oil and gas zone is much bigger than previously thought, U.S. government geologists announced yesterday.
A new assessment of oil and gas reserves in that region by the U.S. Geological Survey concludes that industry could have access to almost double the amount of hydrocarbons previously calculated in parts of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. That rapid increase in the reserve estimate comes mainly from a first-time assessment of the Bakken Shale's sister geologic zone underlying it, the Three Forks Formation.
(San Francisco Chronicle)
Hydraulic fracturing uses large amounts of pressurized water — mixed with sand and chemicals — to crack subterranean rocks and release oil or natural gas. Up to 10 million gallons of water can go into a single well.
And according to a new study, it’s happening in many places where water supplies are already stretched perilously thin.
The study, released today by the nonprofit group Ceres, examined 25,450 fracked wells across the United States and found that 47 percent lie in areas that face high or extremely high “water stress.” In those areas, at least 80 percent of the available fresh water is already being used in homes, farms or businesses.
The numbers have big implications.
(The Hill)
Fifty-eight percent of U.S. residents believe global warming is affecting the country's weather and a substantial number of people say it has made various extreme weather events “more severe.”Those are among the findings of the latest joint survey by Yale University’s Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.
(Bloomberg Businessweek)
We’ve given Jim Rogers, the outspoken chief executive of Duke Energy, plenty of real and virtual ink over the years—and for good reason. He’s the biggest personality in the power industry, the head of the country’s largest utility, and an intriguing advocate for moving away from fossil fuel, even as he has burned more of it than just about anyone you’re likely to meet.
Some environmentalists think Rogers is more wind than substance when it comes to going green. The question of the executive’s legacy will be front and center in Duke’s hometown of Charlotte, N.C., this week, as Rogers gets ready for his final annual shareholders’ meeting on May 2. He has announced that he will retire by year’s end.
(New York Times)
AUSTIN, TEXAS — When cities store water for future use, they often use large lakes created by damming rivers.
Now, experts are urging cities to build reservoirs below the ground, where the water cannot evaporate and many of the difficulties associated with above-ground water storage are avoided.
“It just makes so much more sense,” said Jim Lester, president of the Houston Advanced Research Center, a nonprofit research group. Among other advantages, he said, underground reservoirs are cheaper than their above-ground counterparts.
May 1, 2013
(Reuters)
An oil-rich region of the north-central United States holds more than twice the recoverable crude supplies estimated just five years ago, according to a government study that highlights the nation's march toward energy self-sufficiency.
The Bakken Formation and Three Forks Formation, which spans parts of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota together hold an estimated 7.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, the U.S. Geological Survey study said, although energy experts said those estimates likely understate the region's full potential.
(Politico)
President Barack Obama's upcoming decision on the Keystone XL pipeline will be a defining moment for his environmental legacy, but it could also be a massive setback for a green movement that has suffered a string of bruising losses since he was elected.
The Obama administration may be just months away from green-lighting the 1,700-mile oil pipeline despite an all-out opposition campaign that has seen anti-Keystone activists staging massive sit-ins and arrests outside the White House and dogging the president’s speeches and fundraisers with rallies.
(The Washington Post)
Facebook has rejected an advertisement from a group criticizing the actions of Fwd.us, the political group started by Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and several other prominent members of the technology community.
CREDO Mobile, a mobile carrier that lobbies on progressive issues, has been an outspoken critic of the Keystone XL Pipeline. It has launched a campaign to protest ads funded by Zuckerberg’s lobbying group, Fwd.us, that support pipeline proponent Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.).
(Financial Post)
Alberta's landlocked bitumen reserves stand to lose their allure as China’s state-backed oil giants pour money into the light oil renaissance underway in pockets of the United States.
The boom in so-called tight oil attracted US$41-billion in capital investment last year and could reach US$72-billion by 2020, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The total rivals the $23-billion spent in the oil sands last year and may help coax hundreds of thousands of additional barrels of light oil from North Dakota’s Bakken field, the Eagle Ford play in Texas and California’s Monterey shale.
(The Hill)
Draft federal rules on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, will be released in a matter of "weeks, not months," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Tuesday.
The draft rules have undergone "sufficient change," Jewell said during a media call. They’ll go through a public comment period once revealed.
Interior decided in January to rewrite the rules that would govern fracking on federal lands.
The controversial drilling method involves injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals into tight-rock formations to tap oil and gas reserves buried deep underground.
(Bloomberg Businessweek)
A California Assembly panel approved a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing by oil and natural-gas producers until the most populous U.S. state assesses health and environmental concerns.
The bill by Adrin Nazarian, a Los Angeles Democrat, is opposed by the oil industry through the Western States Petroleum Association, which says hydraulic fracturing has been used safely for more than 60 years. Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee approved the measure 5-3 on a party-line vote late yesterday. Democrats control the Legislature.
(The Hill)
The impact of natural gas exports on everything from foreign relations to jobs will get a look in the House during a May 7 hearing, The Hill has learned.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power will hold the 10 a.m. hearing, committee spokeswoman Charlotte Baker told The Hill. Witnesses for the hearing have not yet been finalized, she said.
The hearing will sharpen the focus on the geopolitical effects of expanding natural gas exports.
The Energy Department (DOE) is weighing a number of applications to export natural gas to nations that lack a free-trade agreement with the United States. Such deals receive more scrutiny than others, as federal law says they must be in the national interest.
(Climate Central)
Hurricane Sandy was one of the largest storm to hit the northeast U.S. in recorded history, killing 159, knocking out power to millions, and causing $70 billion in damage in eight states. Sandy also put the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in stark relief by paralyzing subways, trains, road and air traffic, flooding hospitals, crippling electrical substations, and shutting down power and water to tens of millions of people. But one of the larger infrastructure failures is less appreciated: sewage overflow.
(Politico)
An effort by ethanol backers to get the Environmental Protection Agency to scale back the amount of advanced biofuels required in the U.S. gasoline supply this year has opened a rift in a decades-old friendship within the biofuels industry.
The Renewable Fuels Association made the request to EPA in an attempt to limit imports of Brazilian-based sugar cane ethanol.
But Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association, sees RFA’s move as both encroaching on his turf and violating a pledge to protect the EPA-administered renewable fuels mandate at all costs.
(BusinessGreen)
The latest round of international climate change talks commenced today with the now perennial warning about the need for greater urgency from governments as they battle to curb global greenhouse gas emissions.
Speaking at the opening of the annual week of talks, which are intended to lay the ground work for the UN's next major climate summit in Poland later this year, the head of the UN's climate change secretariat, Christiana Figueres, warned diplomats they "must do more and do it faster."
She warned governments had already used a third of the time between the 2011 Durban commitment to finalise a new international treaty and the 2015 deadline for agreeing that treaty.
(The Hill)
Former Vice President Gore slammed the White House press corps Tuesday for failing to press President Obama on climate change during a news conference.
"Journalists asked the President about important 2nd term agenda items this AM, but continued to ignore the climate crisis. Why?," Gore tweeted from his @algore account.
Journalists asked the President about important 2nd term agenda items this AM, but continued to ignore the climate crisis. Why?
(AP)
Costs tied to the long-running shutdown of California's San Onofre nuclear power plant have soared to $553 million, while the majority owner raised the possibility Tuesday of retiring the plant if it can't get one reactor running later this year.
The twin-domed plant between San Diego and Los Angeles has not produced electricity since January 2012, when a tiny radiation leak led to the discovery of unusual damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water.
Edison International — the parent company of operator Southern California Edison — reported Tuesday that $109 million has been spent through March 31 on repairs and inspections, while $444 million was needed for replacement power.
(Reuters)
U.S. green car startup Coda Holdings Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after selling just 100 of its all-electric sedans, another example of battery-powered vehicles' failure to break into the mass market.
The filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware will allow the Los Angeles company to exit the auto sector and refocus on energy storage, a far less capital-intensive business. The company uses the same technology it used in cars to build systems for utilities and building operators to store power.
(AP)
Lawmakers have advanced a bill intended to attract more wind-energy companies to Nebraska as long as residents receive some of the benefits.
The measure would make it easier for renewable energy firms to qualify for sales-tax exemptions under an existing state program — the Rural Community-Based Energy Development Act — that was created to encourage wind-energy projects.
April 30, 2013
(Guardian)
BP made a record pre-tax profit in the first quarter of double its $9bn for the same period in 2012, the company announced on Tuesday, as a Norwegian regulator rebuked the company for a 2012 oil spill in the North Sea.
The company's pre-tax profit was nearly $20bn in the first quarter of 2013 on a turnover of $107bn.
BP was censured on Monday by Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority after a leak at a major North Sea platform. The watchdog accused BP of poor maintenance and "serious breaches of regulations". The criticism is another blot on the company's safety record and is the second such censure in the last two years.
About $25bn of the $42bn the company set aside to pay for the damages caused by its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now been paid out. But the company is in the process of appealing a civil action brought against it in the US, that could cost more than $8bn out of the trust fund set up for the purpose of paying for the spill, the worst offshore oil spill in US history.
(Politico)
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is taking fire from the left in his quest to reform the country’s immigration system.
Progressives and environmental activists are fuming over recent television ads from the subsidiaries of Zuckerberg's FWD.us umbrella group that tout lawmakers' pro-Keystone XL pipeline and oil drilling positions.
“It’s great that Mark Zuckerberg is promoting immigration reform. Too bad he has to do so by echoing big oil's agenda," Daniel Weiss, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, told POLITICO.
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