Shameless. Nike/WVU Football Introduce Uniform to Honor 29 Miners That Passed on April 5; Greenies Pressure Nike to Change Design on Bases That Uniform "Promotes" Mountain Top Mining. The AP (9.2) reports, "After angry environmentalists objected to a Nike promotional ad for a new West Virginia University football uniform, the athletic apparel giant said Thursday it will modify a graphic depicting a mountaintop removal mine. Nike issued a statement through the university, repeating what the school had said earlier in the day: The new black and white Pro Combat uniform was designed to honor the heritage of coal mining and 29 men killed in the April explosion at Upper Big Branch mine. "We are modifying the graphic of the player on our website to address concerns," the statement said. The Oregon-based company did not return repeated messages from The Associated Press. The Mountaineers will wear the coal-themed uniform for only one game this season, the Nov. 26 Backyard Brawl at Pittsburgh. Nike paid for the new gear. The problem environmental activists had with the ad was not the color of the gear - off-white that appears coated in coal dust - or the number 29 on the coal-black helmets. It's the depiction of a mountaintop removal mine behind the image of a player, complete with flat, treeless mountaintop, the sound of an explosion and the image of falling rock." Click HERE for Nike/WVU Promotional Video.

One Week, Two Federal Judges Rebuke Obama Admin. Anti-Energy Agenda. This Time, Court Rules 77 Leases in Utah Were Revoked Without Merit, Slazar "exceeded his statutory authority." Oil and Gas Journal (9.2) reports, "US Interior Sec. Ken Salazar exceeded his authority when he order 77 federal oil and gas leases in Utah withdrawn in early 2009, a federal court judge ruled on Sept. 1 in Salt Lake City. But US District Judge Dee Benson also ruled that plaintiffs waited too long to challenge Salazar's action. Commissioners from three eastern Utah counties and three area independent producers who brought the suit indicated that the judge's decision keeps an unacceptable precedent from being established. Salazar ordered the leases canceled early in 2009, soon after he became Interior secretary, after the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order on Dec. 22, 2008, preventing the US Bureau of Land Management from issuing them. The tracts were among 116 parcels sold at a regularly scheduled lease sale on Dec. 19. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance had sued 2 days earlier to block their being offered. "In this case, the secretary exceeded his statutory authority by withdrawing leases after determining which parcels were to be leased and after holding a competitive lease during which the BLM named the plaintiffs high responsible bidders," said Benson. "Ultimately, though, the plaintiffs' claims are time-barred," he continued. "Faced with a strict statute of limitations, the plaintiffs failed to file their suit within 90 days of the secretary's final decision."

Anti-Energy Advocates/POLITICO/Waxman Licking Their Chops After Rig Catches Fire in Gulf, We're Just Glad Everyone's Safe. The AP (9.3) reports, "Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Most notably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but the distinctions don't end there. Even though the Mariner Energy-owned platform that erupted in flames Thursday was just 200 miles west of the site of the spill, everything from the structures to the operations to the safety devices were different. Yet, when word spread of the latest mishap, Gulf Coast residents could only think of the three-month BP spill that began after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers. "It's unbelievable," said Sophie Esch, 28, a graduate student at Tulane who is from Berlin, Germany. "They should finally stop drilling in the Gulf. They should shut down all the drilling out there and not give permission to do any more. They've shown that it's just unsafe." Mariner Energy officials said there were seven active production wells on its platform, and they were shut down shortly before the fire broke out. The Coast Guard said they would continue to monitor the platform to make sure no leaks. Houston-based Mariner Energy said it did not know what caused the fire. The platform was still intact and a small portion appears burned, Cassidy said. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the company told him the fire began in 100 barrels of light oil condensate."

Are Weather and Climate One in the Same? According to the UN, No, Except When it Suits Their Argument. The Hill (9.2) reports, "Environmental ministers meeting in Geneva today were told a series of weather disasters point to the need for action on climate change. The ministers are attending a session at the United Nations focused on financing a shift to green technologies in poorer countries. More than 40 countries are attending the meetings.  Christiana Figueres, the U.N.'s climate chief, said a string of weather calamities point to the need for swift action, according to AFP.  Figueres mentioned the devastating floods in Pakistan and fires in Russia, which she said were a wakeup call for the need for a new global climate-change agreement. "Science will show whether and how those events are related to climate change caused by humanity's greenhouse-gas emissions, but the point is clear: We cannot afford to face escalating disasters of that kind," she said, according to AFP. The talks in Geneva run until Friday and are focused on how to provide financing for poorer countries to shift from fossil fuels."

Double-Dip. Congressman Submits Earmark Request for "Non-Profit" to Develop Offshore Wind Technology. Weeks Later, Same Congressman Signs Letter in Support of Same Project for Energy Dept. Funding. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (9.3) reports, "Rep. Joe Sestak said Thursday he made a mistake by failing to connect two requests from the same person, one of which could have led to a $350,000 earmark going to a for-profit company in violation of House rules. The requester, Drew Devitt, applied for the earmark in March for his nonprofit Thomas Paine Foundation, to develop a type of wind turbine that could be located miles offshore. A month later, he asked Sestak, D-Delaware County, to write a letter to the Department of Energy supporting the same project. This time, the letter identified Devitt's for-profit company, New Way Energy, as well as his nonprofit. "On April 12, I signed and sent the letter forward," along with about 4,500 similar letters he signed that month, Sestak said. "In that, I made an error: that I failed to put two and two together." Devitt issued a statement saying he was up-front with Sestak's staff when he made the request. "I am an inventor, writer, entrepreneur, and employer of people who actually make things," Devitt said. "I believe that the U.S. government has unwisely spent its funds on the purchase of foreign wind turbines that have not been placed in zones that would be the most effective at generating energy. My efforts have been to promote what I believe is a better plan for wind energy."

Who Said China is Going Green? Remember that 75 Mile Traffic Jam in China Last Week, Turns out 10,000 of Those Trucks Were Carrying Coal (!?!). Washington Examiner (9.3) reports, "Did you hear about that epic 75-mile long traffic jam they had in China earlier this week? Yes, you read that right, it was a traffic jam that stretched for 75 miles. Here in the nation's capital, people are amazed when I-95 heading south of town or the Beltway around the city develop jams that go for 10 miles. But incredible as a 75-mile traffic jam is in and of itself, there was something else of importance worth noting in the Chinese traffic choker - it was mainly caused by trucks hauling coal. According to China Daily, "more than 10,000 trucks mainly carrying coal are stuck in a 120 km (75 mile) traffic jam in the north Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, in the latest dramatic snarl-up on the country's roads." Imagine that, 10,000 trucks hauling coal. There is a reason for that, however. China's massive manufacturing economy runs on coal, a fact that somehow gets lost in President Obama's frequent exhortations to Americans that we must go green because China allegedly is doing it faster than we are."

Fear the Feld: Obama Request for Courts to Toss Out Challenge to Its Always Illegal, and Now Increasingly Unpopular, Offshore Ban Denied by Judge Feldman. Wall Street Journal (9/1) reports, "The federal judge who struck down the Obama administration's initial six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling on Wednesday dealt the government another blow. U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman denied the government's request to throw out a suit challenging the drilling halt that had been filed by offshore oil service companies. Justice Department lawyers had argued the lawsuit was moot because the Interior Department imposed a new, temporary drilling ban on July 12, replacing a May 28 order that Judge Feldman had struck down in June. But Judge Feldman ruled that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's second moratorium order "is substantially the same as the first one" and "applies to the exact same rigs, to the exact same deepwater drilling, for the exact same time period," the judge said in his ruling. Judge Feldman also noted that in crafting the second moratorium, Salazar appeared to have relied heavily on documents and data that he had at the time of the first moratorium order.  "Nearly every statement in the July 12 decision memorandum is anticipated by documents in the May 28 record, or by documents that were otherwise available to the Secretary before May 28," the judge said.

Rally for Jobs Event in Houston Turns Out Lots of Very Loud Folks In Support of Responsible Offshore Development - Think Anyone in DC Was Listening? Houston Chronicle (9/1) reports, "The emcee for the event was Minerva Perez, the co-host of Latina Voices on PBS. The lead-off speakers included Sherman Lewis III, the owner of a local chain of gas stations who is African American; Carroll G. Robinson, head of the Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce; and Brandy Jones, founder of the social networking website Energy People Connect. Lewis got the biggest cheer when he talked about killing any cap-and-trade bill that tries to put a price on carbon emissions.  Jones lamented the volatility of the energy job market that makes "a geologist in their mid-30s ... more scarce than a unicorn." The keynote, however, goes to former Shell USA CEO John Hofmeister. His talk, which started around 12:15 p.m. was being broadcast to rallies in Corpus Christi and Port Arthur. "Mr. President, Democrat to Democrat, I'm giving you some straight talk," Hofmeister boomed. "When you flew to Fort Bliss, where'd that jet fuel come from? The Gulf of Mexico. When you have record snow fall in Washington, D.C. like you did in the winter of 2010, where did the natural gas come to keep people warm? The Gulf of Mexico. So why are we shutting down the Gulf of Mexico? You've cut your nose of to spite your face, Mr. President."

You Know the NYT Talking Point: Offshore Ban Hasn't Resulted in Exodus of Rigs; Time to Update It: 1 More Left Last Week, and Another Is Set to Leave Next Week. Reuters (9/1) reports, "Transocean Ltd has moved one of its deepwater rigs out of the Gulf of Mexico, as the Obama administration's deepwater drilling moratorium hampers U.S. offshore oil and gas operations. Transocean's Marianas rig is its first to move from the Gulf since the suspension began and departed last week, bound for Nigeria, a company spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. The rig, under contract with Italy's ENI, was set to drill the Triton field. Oil companies and Gulf state lawmakers have warned that the Interior Department's halt on exploratory deepwater drilling will push idled rigs to foreign waters and cost the region thousands of jobs. The department imposed the six-month ban after an explosion sank Transocean's Deepwater Horizon rig, ruptured an undersea well and spilled 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. Transocean, the world's largest drilling rig contractor, had more than a dozen deepwater rigs operating in the Gulf when the drilling ban was put in place.

Use It or Lose It, Anyone? Dilettante Solar "Developers" Snatch Up Prime Solar Real Estate in the Desert, But Refuse to Do Anything with It - Turns Out Solar's Expensive! Associated Press (9/1) reports, "Nowhere is this more evident than in Nevada, where a Goldman Sachs & Co. subsidiary with no solar background has claims with the BLM on nearly half the land for which applications have been filed, but no firm plan for any of the sites. The Obama administration says it is expediting the most promising projects, with some approvals expected as soon as September. "Clearly we spent a lot of time and effort on oil and gas, but those priorities have changed," Ray Brady, BLM's head of energy policy in Washington, told the AP. BLM's solar leasing system ended up allowing developers to lay claim to prime sites - many located in the deserts that span California, Nevada and Arizona. All developers had to do was fill out an application, pay a fee and file development plans. But many were so vague that it was difficult for BLM to separate the serious projects from the speculative ones. In the Southern California desert near Palm Springs, for example, San Diego-based LightSource Renewables filed an application in August 2008 for 2,500 acres, BLM records show. The small, two-person development firm knew enough to recognize the land's worth - it was close to transmission lines - but had no previous experience with such projects. Co-founder Paul Whitworth said it is now focusing on getting private land, and is not pursuing plans for its BLM site. The agency, however, still considers the application active, meaning other interested firms cannot access it.

We're Not Saying All Enviros Are as Nuts as the Guy Who Stormed Discovery Channel HQ with a Gun Yesterday Demanding Action on Climate - But They Read the Same Books. Washington Post (9/1) reports, "Animals and bugs were good, Lee wrote. But war was bad, along with global warming, pollution and international trade. As for civilization?  The environmental militant who was killed Wednesday at the end of a tense hostage standoff at Discovery Communications headquarters in downtown Silver Spring, termed it "filth." Lee, who once listed a Silver Spring homeless center as his address but who had inherited property in Hawaii that he sold for $90,000, held extreme views about the environment. According to writings on the Internet, he believed that humanity had polluted the planet and that human reproduction was the worst pollutant. "Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what's left of the planet with their false morals and breeding culture," he wrote in an 11-point Internet communique that authorities said was similar to demands he made Wednesday. "Saving the Planet means . . . decreasing the Human population. That means stopping the human race from breeding any more disgusting human babies!" "The planet does not need humans." What a coincidence: The Woodrow Wilson Center in DC is holding a briefing today on "scarcity and population control."

Chet Edwards Generally a Guy Who Understands Difference Between Good, Bad and Irrelevant on Energy - Which Makes His Full-Throated Support for DOE Bizarre. Dallas Morning News (9/1) reports, "Rep. Chet Edwards  dinged Republican challenger Bill Flores today for suggesting earlier this year that the Department of Energy be eliminated. "Maybe Mr. Flores doesn't understand what the Department of Energy does, but that is a very dangerous misunderstanding," said Edwards, D-Waco, in a call with reporters. "This proposal would have serious consequences, both here in Texas and across our nation." The criticism derives from comments that Flores made at a radio candidates' forum in March, where he suggested cutting funds for the department. Edwards said the proposal would negatively impact research projects at Texas A&M and jobs for the expansion of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant. The Department of Energy also plays an important role in protecting against nuclear terrorism and working for energy independence, he said. " The Flores campaign brushed aside the criticism as a "desperate attack." "Since the Energy Department was created in 1977 to end our dependence on foreign oil, it has failed to meet its primary objective even though it costs taxpayers about $30 billion each year," he added.

Facebook, Google, YouTube - You Know What They All Have in Common? They Use Electrons, and Those Come from Reliable Coal - Enviros Hate That. UK Guardian (9/1) reports, "Facebook is coming under pressure from its users to switch to renewable energy. In one of the web's fastest-growing environmental campaigns, Greenpeace international says at least 500,000 people have now protested at the organisation's intention to run its giant new data centre mainly on electricity produced by burning coal power. Facebook will not say how much electricity it uses to stream video, store information and connect its 500m users but industry estimates suggest that at their present rate of growth all the data centres and telecommunication networks in the world will consume about 1,963bn kilowatt hours of electricity by 2020. That is more than triple their current consumption and more electricity than is used by France, Germany, Canada and Brazil combined. The company has said it will source its electricity from Pacific Power. It uses coal power for 67% of its electricity, and produces less than 12% of its electricity from renewable sources. The company has said it plans to generate more electricity from renewables in future but has given no detailed information.

Thank You, Sen. Murkowski for Your Service to the Last Frontier and the Nation. Anchorage Daily News (8.31) reports, "Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday night conceded the Republican primary election to Joe Miller, the tea party backed challenger who maintained his Election Day lead after thousands of additional absentee and other ballots were counted through the day. Miller said Murkowski called him early this evening to say she was conceding. "I thanked her for the hard-fought contest and wished her the best and asked for unity," Miller said in a telephone interview from his hometown of Fairbanks. Miller said he thinks Murkowski will end up supporting him in the general election. "I'm going to give her some time and we're going to talk more about it later," he said. Miller said he's going to meet with close friends and family Tuesday night. "Then we'll probably head back to the office and do some more campaign work a little bit later tonight," Miller said on Tuesday. Miller will now face Democrat Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka, in the November general election."

Hey NYT, Looking for Good-Paying, Family Sustaining Jobs? Look no Further Than Pennsylvania, and Thank the Marcellus Shale and Hydraulic Fracturing; or Does That Not Count? NY Times (8.31) reports, "With the country focused on job growth and with unemployment continuing to hover above 9 percent, comparatively little attention has been paid to the quality of the jobs being created and what that might say about the opportunities available to workers when the recession finally settles. There are reasons for concern, however, even in the early stages of a tentative recovery that now appears to be barely wheezing along. For years, long before the recession began, job growth had become increasingly polarized in this country. High-paid occupations that require significant amounts of education and training grew rapidly alongside low-wage, service-type jobs that do not, according to David Autor, a labor economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The growth of these low-wage jobs began in the 1980s, accelerated in the 1990s and began to really take off in the 2000s. Losing out in the shuffle, Dr. Autor said, were jobs that he described as "middle-skill, middle-wage" - entry-level white-collar positions, like office and administrative support work, and certain blue-collar jobs, like assembly line workers and machine operators."

Lame Duck Strategy Takes Hold. Days Before Senate Returns from Recess, and After Big Wind and Solar Spent Millions Lobbying, Expensive, Intermittent Energy Mandate Back in the Picture. The Hill (8.31) reports, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday a nationwide renewable-electricity standard, or RES, is "absolutely" in the mix as he tries to salvage energy legislation this year - possibly in a lame-duck session. Before the August recess, Reid said he doubted an RES - which would require utilities to provide escalating amounts of power from sources like wind and solar energy - could win 60 votes. It was left on the cutting-room floor when Reid unveiled a modest energy bill in late July. But Reid told reporters on a conference call Tuesday the energy bill is still a work in progress and cited two Republicans who have expressed interest in an RES. He did not name them. "I am going to tie them down a little more closely," Reid said. He spoke on a conference call to promote a Sept. 7 energy conference that he is co-hosting at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Reid also suggested passing energy legislation could be more likely during a lame-duck session. He noted the Senate would resume work after the recess but added, "Maybe, after the elections, we can get some more Republicans to work with us."

More Hot Air. Mass. High Court Sides With Cape Wind Developers; Still have to Answer This Fundamental Question: Who's Going to Buy the Electricity? The AP (8.31) reports, Developers of a proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm were cleared to move forward Tuesday when Massachusetts' high court rejected a claim that the project sidestepped local opposition to win a key permit. Cape Wind project, a 130-turbine proposal that would be the nation's first offshore wind farm, was given permission last year by a state board to build power transmission lines through state waters. The Supreme Judicial Court backed that decision in a 4-2 ruling. Cape Wind had gone to the state after a local board, the Cape Cod Commission, rejected in 2007 its request to build about 18 miles of undersea and underground transmission cables to connect to the regional electric power grid. The local board said Cape Wind hadn't provided sufficient information. Opponents argued the state exceeded its powers and was trumped by the local ruling, but the court disagreed. It said that that interpretation would mean the state Energy Facilities Siting Board's authority applied everywhere but Cape Cod. Next week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities will begin considering whether Cape Wind's pending 15-year deal with National Grid is a good deal for ratepayers. Under the deal, the utility would buy half of Cape Wind's power, starting at 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour. That's about twice what the utility pays for power from conventional sources, but Cape Wind backers say that given the volatility of fossil fuel costs, the price will be a good deal over the life of the contract."

Add Japan to the List. Countries Around the World see Value in Marcellus Shale; Wonder When Both Ends of Pennsylvania. Ave. will Take Note. Bloomberg (9.1) reports, "Sumitomo Corp., Japan's third- largest trading company, agreed to pay Rex Energy Corp. about $140 million for a 30 percent stake in a gas venture in the Marcellus Shale region in the U.S. Sumitomo plans to invest about $1.2 billion in the project during the next ten years, it said today in a statement on the company's website. Sumitomo's Summit Discovery Resources II LLC unit will pay about $88.4 million in cash for the stake and a further $52 million toward drilling costs, Rex Energy said in a statement yesterday. Japanese trading companies including Mitsubishi Corp. are increasing investments in extracting methane trapped in shale rock thousands of feet below the earth's surface to tap demand for the cleaner-burning fuel. The latest deal is Sumitomo's second purchase of shale gas assets in the U.S. after it paid $25 million for a 12.5 percent stake in a venture in the Barnett Shale region of Texas from Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. The Marcellus Shale project involves drilling more than 1,100 wells in an area located in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in the next decade. Gas output is expected to peak at 46 billion cubic feet a year, Sumitomo said in the statement."

Blame it on Bush. AP Dispatch on Solar Points Finger at Bush Admin. For Lack of Development; Could it be that Suncatchers are Expensive, Unreliable and Use a Ton or Water? The AP (9.1) reports, "Not a light bulb's worth of solar electricity has been produced on the millions of acres of public desert set aside for it. Not one project to build glimmering solar farms has even broken ground. Instead, five years after federal land managers opened up stretches of the Southwest to developers, vast tracts still sit idle. An Associated Press examination of U.S. Bureau of Land Management records and interviews with agency officials shows that the BLM operated a first-come, first-served leasing system that quickly overwhelmed its small staff and enabled companies, regardless of solar industry experience, to squat on land without any real plans to develop it. At a time when the nation drills ever deeper for oil off its shores even as it tries to diversify its energy supply, the federal government has, so far, failed to use the land it already has - some of the world's best for solar - to produce renewable electricity. "Clearly we spent a lot of time and effort on oil and gas, but those priorities have changed," Ray Brady, BLM's head of energy policy in Washington, told the AP. The Bush administration, however, kept BLM's focus on oil. BLM's database of solar applications shows many languished for years while the agency approved more than 73,000 oil and gas leases in the last five years. BLM has yet to give final approval to one solar lease. BLM's solar leasing system ended up allowing developers to lay claim to prime sites - many located in the deserts that span California, Nevada and Arizona. All developers had to do was fill out an application, pay a fee and file development plans."

George Soros and Co. Hard at Work Supporting/Funding Anti-Energy Movement in America; Story Yet to be Picked up by MSM. Ed Lasky writes (9.1) at The American Thinker, "The sinister, omnipresent moneybags of the American left, George Soros, knows that distraction and misdirection make for a good defense. So do his many lackeys and sympathizers in the American media. Jane Mayer's 10,000-word article in the New Yorker, titled "Covert Operations: the billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama," has been widely cited in other liberal media. Mayer just let the claim that Soros has no monetary interest when he gives money stand unchallenged -- and that was shameful. Where was the famed New Yorker fact-checking department? Did they get laid off? What planet do Mayer and Rich live on? Soros obviously has his financial interests in mind when he gives, and he knows how to use his billions to make more billions by tapping his friends in high places in the Democratic Party.Soros's pet think-tank, the Center for American Progress, constantly pushes green schemes. Democratic politicians are on board, as well. This group includes Barack Obama who, runs after one electric battery, solar power plant, and windmill after another (when he is not on the links or listening to live music at the club he created in the East Room of the White House). How generous have Obama and the Democrats been to the green schemers? The grand champion of budget-busting departments has been the "Energy Efficiency and Renewable Program," which received $1.7 billion in 2008 and $16.8 billion in 2009, a 1,014% increase in just one year. Media reports over the past year or so have tied numerous Democratic donors to these "ventures." They have been richly rewarded with taxpayer dollars."

Trust Us, You Won't Feel a Thing: EPA Chief Characterizes Upcoming Command-and-Control Carbon Criminalization Rules over Entire US Economy as "Modest In Scope." The Hill (8/30) reports, "EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said over the weekend that upcoming climate regulations are modest in scope, comments that come amid Capitol Hill efforts to scuttle the rules, EPA is set to begin regulating greenhouse gases from power plants and other large emissions sources in 2011, but vows to phase in the requirements slowly and shield small businesses. "They [the rules] will be modest, each and every one, because business needs time to understand the regulations that are coming at them. There won't be any huge shocks to the system," Jackson told National Public Radio in an interview broadcast Sunday. Some Capitol Hill lawmakers hope to derail EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions; regulations also face court challenges. Critics of the regulations allege they will harm the economy, while defenders call the fears overblown and say the rules are needed to help slow global warming. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has said that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has promised him a vote this year on his bill to block EPA rules governing stationary emissions sources for two years. Opponents have also eyed appropriations bills for riders to scuttle EPA's authority. Jackson also said she remains hopeful Congress will return to climate.

Haley's Comment: Mississippi Gov. Gets Another Top Interior Official to Go On the Record Predicting Premature End to Obama's Failed Offshore Ban. Associated Press (8/30) reports, "Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour used the Southern Governors' Association convention in suburban Birmingham to press the funding issue with two officials of the Obama administration: senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and assistant secretary of Interior Wilma Lewis. The convention offered Barbour an opportunity to air his frustration with the administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling, particularly after President Obama did not discuss it Sunday in his visit to New Orleans. Lewis said people must remember that 11 workers lost their lives in the April accident. She said a six-month pause to Nov. 30 was needed to make safety changes and make sure a future spill can be contained. But she said some rigs that are deemed to be safer than others might be allowed to return to work before Nov. 30. Barbour said the moratorium had worsened the spill's economic impact on the Gulf states and caused oil companies to increase their interest in drilling in areas far beyond the Gulf. "I don't know how to describe it other than pouring salt in a wound," he said. Barbour and Riley also complained about a lack of information about the administration's recovery plan for the region, headed by former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus.

That Should Do It: New BOEMRE Chief Thinks He's Found the Cure to All that Ailed Former MMS: Prevent BOEMRE Inspectors from Eating Lunch with Industry. The Houston Chronicle (8/31) reports, "The Obama administration on Monday imposed an unprecedented conflict-of-interest policy on federal drilling regulators in a bid to put greater distance between inspectors and the offshore platforms and rigs they police. The rule is aimed at strengthening oversight of the offshore drilling industry following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and reports that officials at the former Minerals Management Service - now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement - sometimes were too cozy with energy companies. Bureau Director Michael Bromwich announced the new policy, which takes effect immediately, in an e-mail to employees late Monday. Bureau employees now must tell supervisors about any potential conflict of interest and submit formal requests not to be assigned inspections or other official duties when those conflicts arise. The employees also must ask to step down when their inspections or official duties involve a company employing a family member or close personal friend.  And for at least two years, they cannot perform inspections or other work involving former employers in the industry. Lawmakers in the House and Senate have advanced proposals for a similar two-year timeout.

Who's Down for a Rally? Lots of Pro-Energy Folks All Across Texas This Week, and All Across Ohio, Illinois, N.M, and Colo. over the Next Few Weeks. Houston Business Journal (8/30) reports, "A group led by the American Petroleum Institute is simultaneously holding a "Rally for Jobs" in three Texas cities, including Houston, on Sept. 1. The rallies, scheduled for 10:30 a.m., will take place in Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center, in Port Arthur at the Port Arthur Civic Center and the American Bank Center Convention Center in Corpus Christi. The rallies will focus on the energy industry's impact on the state's economic development. The oil and natural gas industry supports more than 1.7 million jobs in Texas and accounts for almost 25 percent of the state's economy, according to API. "The focus of the rallies will be jobs and the economy," said Jack Gerard, API president and chief executive, in a statement. "U.S. unemployment is high, and Americans have growing concerns over the economic recovery." The Texas rallies will be the first in a series to take place in Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico and Colorado during the congressional recess period, according to the organizers.

Investigators Recommend a Bit Less Political Cheerleading in the Future from UN's IPCC Panel - No Need to Cut the Hackery Out Completely, But Moderation would be Prudent. London Telegraph (8/31) reports, "A group of leading scientists from around the world said on Monday that the leaders of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had left themselves open to the accusation that they had "gone beyond IPCC's remit". In March the Amsterdam-based InterAcademy Council (IAC) was called in after a number of errors were found in the IPCC's landmark 2007 Fourth Assessment Report into man-made climate change. On Monday the IAC announced its recommendations on how to strengthen the IPCC, saying it "needs fundamental reform" to convince an ever more skeptical public that its science was solid. The report also recommended that a "rigorous conflict-of-interest policy" should be drawn up for senior IPCC leadership and authors of its reports. In the future no individual should chair the IPCC for more than one six-year term, it stated.  Additionally, "formal qualifications for the chair and all other Bureau members need to be developed", the IAC said. The IAC also said the IPCC should tighten up on its use of so-called "gray literature" - that which has not been peer-reviewed. Prof Shapiro said: "IPCC has guidelines for the use of such sources, but these guidelines are vague and have not always been followed."

So You Have an Extra $35,000 Sitting Around and a Hankering for a 100-HP Electric Car that Dies After 100 Miles of Sputtering Along? Nissan's Got You Covered. Venture Beat magazine (8/30) reports, "Word on the street is that Nissan will start taking orders tomorrow for the hotly anticipated Leaf, the world's first mass-produced electric vehicle priced low enough for the general consumer. The automaker has been accepting reservations for a refundable fee of $99, and already has 18,000 pre-orders, according to John Schilling, Nissan spokesman - with a goal of reaching 20,000 by December. More than half of the reservations are from people in the five states where the Leaf will have its initial rollout. The rollout will be staggered. The first vehicles will go to drivers in Arizona, Tennessee, California, Washington and Oregon, then in January to Texas and Hawaii. The car maker expects the Leaf to be available everywhere in the U.S. by the end of 2011. Officially, Nissan declined to comment on the date orders will start, saying only that it "will happen soon," but it's being reported that a Washington dealership has posted on Mynissanleaf.com that tomorrow's the big day. Nissan says it can take the car 100 miles in a single charge.

Remember When Germans Made Cars? Now They Make Ridiculous Promises about How Much Wind and Solar They'll Use 40 Years from Now - Achtung! Dow Jones (8/30) reports, "Most of Germany's energy demand can be met through renewable sources by 2050 but this is dependent on agreeing ambitious, multi-billion euro expenditure, according to the conclusions of a government-commissioned report into the country's future energy policy. Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen and Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle, who jointly presented the findings of the report in Berlin Monday, said all of the several scenarios the report has drawn up project that Germany can meet its climate protection targets if it increases the use of renewable energies, improves energy efficiency and modernizes its energy infrastructure. To achieve the goals, however, massive investments by both private and public sectors will be required.  Germany plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels. Roettgen and Bruederle also said the study argues for the longer use of nuclear energy to assist in reaching these goals. "The appraisal shows that extending the lifespan will lower CO2 gas emissions," said Bruederle.