Blog

Land Men: Senate EPW DemsUnveil Ambitious Agenda for Lame Duck Session – Mostly Involving ForcedAcquisition of Millions of Acres of Currently State and Private Land. E&E News (11/19, subs. req’d) reports, “Lawmakers are working to bundle a slew ofwaterways, public lands and wildlife bills into a monumental natural resourcespackage that could attract enough bipartisan support to pass before Congressends next month. Success is far from assured, aides say, given the lame-ducksession's...

This isLeadership: No Offshore Drilling in Michigan, That’s Not Stopping Fred Uptonfrom Leading Charge Against Carol Browner/WH Drilling Ban.The Hill (11/15) reports, “A Michigan Republican seeking to chair theHouse Energy and Commerce Committee is pressing White House energy czar CarolBrowner for information about controversial changes her office made to a MayInterior Department report on offshore drilling safety. In a letter to BrownerMonday, Rep. Fred Upton asked about recent findings by...

Recipe for an Offshore Ban:One Part Delay, One Part Denial, One Part Ennui – Any If All Else Fails,Simply Refuse to Hold Lease Sales. Houston Chronicle (11/12) reports, “Although the Bureau ofOcean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has not announced any delayin the planned lease sale covering offshore tracts in the central Gulf ofMexico, oil industry lobbyists and analysts said it is unlikely to go forward.Analysts at FBR Capital Markets predicted the March lease sale “is likely...

Advice:Compromise on Energy will Compromise New-Found Republican Majority. E&E News (sub’s req., 11/12)reports, “President Obama and Republicans have repeatedly highlighted energy asan area where compromise and progress can be found over the next two yearsafter the tumultuous and partisan midterm elections. But the prospects for anyprogress will land squarely on the shoulders of a few Democratic and Republicansenators who can successfully negotiate and woo allies from the other party.But who...

Science of the Lambs: AdministrationPledges Fealty to “Science” At Every Turn – But When Science Points toMore Energy Exploration, WH Re-Writes the Script.Associated Press (11/10) reports, “The latest complaint fromscientists comes in a report by the Interior Department’s inspector general,which concluded that the White House edited a drilling safety report in a waythat made it falsely appear that scientists and experts supported theadministration’s six-month ban on new deep-water drilling....

Dear Mr. Bromwich, IfYou’re Looking for Cash to Run Your Agency, Here’s a Formula That Works: LeaseSales = Revenue. Drilling = Production = Royalty Revenue. Politico (11/9) reports, “Offshore drilling reforms implemented in thewake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may be in jeopardy unless Congressapproves a substantial cash infusion, the administration’s industry watchdogtold a panel of investigators today. Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureauof Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and...

ObamaAdmin. Touts Job Creation as Number One Priority, Except When They’re EnergyJobs – that’s the Case in Alaska Where Shell has 35,000 Jobs on Stand By.New York Times (11/5) reports, “Eager to win approval forits stalled plan to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, Royal Dutch Shell isbeginning a public lobbying campaign, including national advertising, onMonday. As part of the effort, the giant oil company is promising to makeunprecedented preparations to prevent the kind of disaster that...

Message toMitch and the Senate: Lame Duck Energy “Compromise,” Renewable ElectricityMandate Raw Deal for American People.E&E News (11/5) reports, “President Obama andRepublicans have repeatedly highlighted energy as an area where compromise andprogress can be found over the next two years after the tumultuous and partisanmidterm elections. But the prospects for any progress will land squarely on theshoulders of a few Democratic and Republican senators who can successfullynegotiate and woo...

Cap-and-Spayed: Real SimpleMessage Emerges from 2010 Elections: If You Voted for Cap-and-Raid in aDistrict Where Folks Were Actually Awake, You Lost. Politico (11/3) reports, “Democrats who voted for the controversialHouse climate bill were slaughtered at the ballot box, including Rep. RickBoucher, the 14-term Virginian who helped broker some of the key dealsinstrumental to its June 2009 passage. In the Senate, several reliable green advocatesalso went down to opponents who derided tough new...

Bifurcation Station: GreensAlready in Spin Cycle Pre-Butting Election Results Tonight – InsistVoters Aren’t “Thinking About” Cap-and-Raid, Just the Economy (!)ClimateWire (11/1, subs. req’d) reports, “President Obama was still trying to motivate hisbase on the eve of elections. He has campaigned hard to turn out the vote forweeks. Yesterday, he gave campaign-themed interviews to radio stations inFlorida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- all battleground states whereDemocrats could lose...