Mother Nature, Fickle Mistress: Oil in the Gulf Biodegrading "Far More Rapidly Than Anyone Expected" - And Far Too Soon for Enviros' Fundraising Efforts. NY Times (7/28) reports, "The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected, a piece of good news that raises tricky new questions about how fast the government should scale back its response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  The immense patches of surface oil that covered thousands of square miles of the gulf after the April 20 oil rig explosion are largely gone, though sightings of tar balls and emulsified oil continue here and there.  Reporters flying over the area Sunday spotted only a few patches of sheen and an occasional streak of thicker oil, and radar images taken since then suggest that these few remaining patches are quickly breaking down in the warm surface waters of the gulf.  John Amos, president of SkyTruth, an environmental advocacy group that sharply criticized the early, low estimates of the size of the BP leak, noted that no oil had gushed from the well for nearly two weeks.  "Oil has a finite life span at the surface," Mr. Amos said Tuesday, after examining fresh radar images of the slick. "At this point, that oil slick is really starting to dissipate pretty rapidly."

WH Want to Ram Through Cap-and-Raid in Lame Duck Session - "Premised on Senators Being Liberated from the Tethers of the American People," Says Johanns. E&E News (7/28, subs. req'd) reports, "Cap-and-trade provisions that likely cannot pass the Senate directly this year could be added to a narrower energy package during a House and Senate conference, a White House spokesman suggested yesterday. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters he "certainly wouldn't rule it out" that a House-Senate conference committee would reconcile differing versions of energy legislation by adding climate provisions left out of a narrow package the Senate is expected to take up this week. Gibbs said he does not think a climate bill is dead for the year, despite the decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to drop greenhouse gas emission limits from the scaled-back oil spill response and energy bill unveiled yesterday. "The plan to do cap and trade in a lame duck is premised on senators and House members being free and liberated from the tethers of the American people," Johanns said yesterday on the Senate floor. "That's extraordinary, and it's deeply troubling." Gibbs said yesterday that a House and Senate energy conference could take place before a lame-duck session. "We could do it in September," he said.

Unable to Move Anti-Frac Bill Through Normal Means, DeGette, Casey Get Harry Reid to Attach Their Language to Dems' Last-Train-Out-of-Warsaw Energy Bill. E&E News (7/28, subs. req'd) reports, "The Senate language released late last night contains a new provision that would require oil and gas drilling companies using a controversial production technique to disclose information about the chemicals used in the process. The hydraulic fracturing provision was not included in the draft summary of the legislation that Democrats released yesterday afternoon. The language is a scaled-down version of legislation pushed by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in the Senate (S. 1215) and by Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) in the House (H.R. 2766) that would regulate fracturing under U.S. EPA. Casey has said he wanted to see fracturing language included in the Senate energy bill and had promised to offer it up as an amendment if it is not included. Hydraulic fracturing is a decades-old production technique that blasts water, chemicals and sand into wellbores to break apart compact rock and release trapped hydrocarbons. The technique has drawn intense scrutiny from environmentalists and some Democrats about its potential to contaminate water supplies, but industry maintains the technique is safe. The House oil spill legislation does not include the fracking language.

...Which is Some Funny Timing, Considering PA DEP Once Again Went Out of Its Way Yesterday to Debunk Casey's Mistaken Premise on HF and Water Contamination. KDKA (Pittsburgh, 7/27) reports, "Some people say the drilling for Marcellus Shale has polluted their groundwater and contaminated their water wells. Bill Eakin, from the village of Rea in Avella, is one of them. He says he and his wife were sickened by their water, after drilling started. They blame Atlas Energy. In a statement, Atlas told KDKA's Andy Sheehan their tests of the village's water wells came up negative: "The results did not indicate contamination due to natural gas exploration and production activities." On Tuesday, the state Department of Environmental Protection said its independent testing showed the same thing. "That's exactly right," Helen Humphreys, a spokesperson for the DEP, said. "The test results came back with results that are consistent with water in southwestern Pennsylvania." The DEP says it also has been unable to verify any contamination cases in the state caused by drilling, even though much of the public believes otherwise. "It is counter to a perception and it's unfortunate," Humphreys said. "We really need to be sure that people are seeing the data that we're seeing."

Not to Gild the Lilly, But: Marcellus Shale Exploration in PA Generated $1.7 Billion Last Year for Landowners ALONE; 44,000 Jobs Created While They Were At It. MSC president Katie Klaber writes (7/28) in the Centre (Pa.) Daily Times, "Last year alone, Marcellus producers paid almost $1.7 billion to private landowners across the commonwealth. And in the next year and a half, our work is projected to generate more than $1.8 billion in state and local tax revenues. We're also proud of the jobs our industry continues to create. According to a recent Penn State study, almost 44,000 jobs in the commonwealth have been created as a result of Marcellus development. Penn State also predicts that in the next decade this work has the potential to create 212,000 jobs statewide. Have you heard of the "Marcellus Multiplier"? It's not a featured flavor at Penn State's Creamery, although maybe it should be. Penn State academics determined that for every $1 invested into Marcellus development, $1.90 of total economic output is generated across the economy. The entire supply chain that supports our industry - small businesses, manufacturers, local suppliers, contractors - have come to know this economic impact as the "Marcellus Multiplier."  And while tremendous strides by almost every metric have been made, there's much more to do.

IPAA Chief: What Does an Independent Energy Company Look Like? We Might Have a Hard Time Remembering in a Couple Years If Folks In Washington Get Their Way. IPAA chairman Bruce Vincent writes (7/28) in the Washington Times, "What does an American oil or natural gas company look like? It seems like a simple question. But to many policymakers in Washington, those responsible for delivering stable supplies of homegrown oil and gas essential to keep our economy fueled and energy prices stable for struggling families are all "big oil." This common perception in Washington, and elsewhere, is wildly detached from the facts. America's independent oil and natural gas producers drill 90 percent of the nation's wells. These companies employ, on average, just 12 workers. These are important facts. And while some independent producers are publicly traded companies, many are good old-fashioned family-run and -owned small businesses. ... The president's moratorium on offshore energy development, for starters, is not only creating enormous amounts of uncertainty for our producers, but also driving rigs out of U.S. waters to other energy-producing nations overseas and compounding the economic fallout along the Gulf Coast. Leaders in the Gulf region - who understand better than anyone in Washington how critical the oil and natural gas industry is to our nation and their region's economy - are continuing their fight for responsible offshore energy production and the thousands of jobs our industry supports.

Cancelled: Obama Admin Doubles-Down on Bad Bet Founded on Belief that American People Will Eventually Support His Offshore Bans - Cancels 2 More Lease Sales Today. E&E News (7/27, subs. req'd) reports, "The Obama administration today formally cancelled two lease sales that were once part of President Obama's plan for "the largest expansion of our nation's available offshore oil and gas supplies in three decades." But in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the administration filed notices for the Federal Register that state the Interior Department needs time to do environmental reviews, scientific analysis and gather public input. "Cancellation," the notices say, "will allow time to develop and implement measures to improve the safety of oil and gas development in Federal waters, provide greater environmental protection, and substantially reduce the risk of catastrophic events." One of the lease sales was off Virginia and the other was in the western Gulf in waters as deep as 10,975 feet. Obama had announced the decision on May 27 when he suspended the 33 deepwater exploratory wells then being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Publication in the Federal Register will make it official.

Feds Says Mayor Bloomberg's Plan to Impose New Hybrid Mandate on Cabbies in NYC Violates the Law - Since Only Feds Can Tinker with Fuel Economy - CA, You Listening? NY Times (7/27) reports, "The Bloomberg administration's years-long attempt to force the city's cab owners to switch from gas guzzlers to hybrid vehicles was rejected by a federal appeals court Tuesday morning. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a judge's 2009 ruling, in a suit brought by taxi fleet owners, that the city's rules amounted to an effort to mandate fuel economy and emissions standards, something that only the federal government is allowed to do. If the city wants to appeal further, the next stop is the United States Supreme Court. A Law Department spokeswoman said officials were "reviewing our options." The city's effort to force the changeover from the ubiquitous Ford Crown Victorias, which get 12 to 14 miles a gallon, to hybrids and other cleaner cars that get much better mileage dates to 2007, when the city issued a rule that all cabs put into service beginning October 2009 achieve at least 30 city miles per gallon. After a federal judge blocked that rule, the city rolled out another, in March 2009, based on financial incentives. That rule allowed fleet owners to raise their lease rates to drivers by $3 per shift for hybrids and other clean cars, but forced them to drop their rates $12 per shift for Crown Victorias, creating a $15-per-shift difference between gas cars and hybrids.