It’s amazing to watch the transformation of an entrepreneur into rent seeker Business Week (4/19/11) reports: Google Inc. has invested another $100 million in a clean energy project. The funding for the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon brings Google's total clean energy investments to more than $350 million and represents the company's latest attempt to support reliable new ways to power its expanding data centers…Data centers, or server farms, are notorious power hogs. And Google has...
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The unstoppable can-do American spirit collides with the immoveable U.S. Government — Shell expects to drill in Alaska in 2012 Wall Street Journal (4/15/11) reports: Royal Dutch Shell PLC expects to start drilling in Alaska's Arctic waters in the summer of next year and have in place an oil-containment system specifically designed for the area ready at the same time, the head of the company's U.S. operations said Friday…"Our aspiration is to drill in the 2012 season," Marvin Odum,...
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Well, there's a first time for everything Houston Chronicle (4/14/11) The top U.S. officials in charge of offshore oil and gas exploration on Wednesday got a close-up look at the first deep-water drilling project approved since last year's oil spill…Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and his chief offshore regulator, Michael Bromwich, spent two hours examining new safety systems - including one spurred by the spill - on the Ensco 8501 rig that is about to begin drilling a bypass well for Noble...
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We imagine that they will bring the same diligence to this as they have to every other instance where affordable, reliable energy is involved E&E News (4/14/11) reports: The Interior Department tomorrow will launch a new evaluation of the effects of oil shale leasing across millions of acres of federal land in the West…The programmatic environmental review -- to be announced in tomorrow's Federal Register -- is Interior's first step to complying with a February settlement with...
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Last week, both the House and Senate voted on legislation to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating carbon dioxide emissions. The House passed the Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910) by an overwhelming bipartisan majority. The Senate, however, was unable to pass similar legislation, even though over the course of various votes a total of 64 Senators voted to limit EPA’s authority in one way or another.
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What do you think Obama said this morning: be careful what you wish for or I love it when a plan comes together Washington Post (4/12/11) reports: Gasoline prices are soaring toward $4 a gallon, a threshold that some analysts say will damage the fragile economic recovery and crimp consumer spending just as families are planning their summer vacations… Bill Simon, chief executive of Wal-Mart U.S., said recently that the retailer sees fewer customers when gas prices begin to rise,...
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What? You mean that people take advantage of venal and corrupt government extortion efforts to feather their own nests? E&E News (4/12/11) reports: Officials along the Gulf Coast have spent tens of millions of dollars -- furnished by BP PLC -- on gear, technology and vehicles, much of which has little to do with the oil cleanup…Much of the money was provided with no strings attached by the oil giant last spring while the crisis was unfolding. Many of the expenditures were only remotely...
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The common sense defense: producers would rather sell than spill oil Wall Street Journal (4/11/11) reports: The Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010 was the largest offshore spill ever in the U.S. It humbled one of the oldest, biggest and most distinguished oil firms, BP , forcing it to set aside $20 billion in compensation and sacrifice its chief executive. No wonder the oil industry is doing some soul searching. In response to the catastrophe, oil companies have taken ...
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Before Obama says he can do nothing about gas prices, how about he tries to do something first? Like have open up some of the 97% of OCS where he doesn't allow development Herald Times (2/6/11) reports: Pitching the promise of energy independence, President Barack Obama cautioned Wednesday that it’s going to be tough to transition from America’s oil-dependent economy and acknowledged there’s little he can do to lower gas prices over the short term…“I’m just going to be...
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