News

Why change a good headline — There Will be Oil Wall Street Journal (9/17/11) reports:  Since the beginning of the 21st century, a fear has come to pervade the prospects for oil, fueling anxieties about the stability of global energy supplies. It has been stoked by rising prices and growing demand, especially as the people of China and other emerging economies have taken to the road… Its advocates argue that the world is fast approaching (or has already reached) a point of maximum oil output. They warn that “an unprecedented crisis is just over the horizon.” The result, it is said, will be “chaos,” to say nothing of “war, starvation, economic recession, possibly even the extinction of homo sapiens.”…Its advocates argue that the world is fast approaching (or has already reached) a point of maximum oil output. They warn that “an unprecedented crisis is just over the horizon.” The result, it is said, will be “chaos,” to say nothing of “war, starvation, economic recession, possibly even the extinction of homo sapiens.”… The date of the predicted peak has moved over the years. It was once supposed to arrive by Thanksgiving 2005. Then the “unbridgeable supply demand gap” was expected “after 2007.” Then it was to arrive in 2011. Now “there is a significant risk of a peak before 2020.”…But there is another way to visualize the future availability of oil: as a “plateau.”…In this view, the world has decades of further growth in production before flattening out into a plateau—perhaps sometime around midcentury—at which time a more gradual decline will begin. And that decline may well come not from a scarcity of resources but from greater efficiency, which will slacken global demand…Those sounding the alarm over oil argue that about half the world’s oil resources already have been produced and that the point of decline is nearing. “It’s quite a simple theory and one that any beer-drinker understands,” said the geologist Colin Campbell, one of the leaders of the movement. “The glass starts full and ends empty, and the faster you drink it, the quicker it’s gone.”

Pay to play — Solyndra is the latest example of Chicago style politics on the national stage Chicago Tribune (9/17/11) reports: The Solyndra scandal cost at least a half-billion public dollars. It is plaguing President Barack Obama. And it’s being billed as a Washington story…But back in Obama’s political hometown, those of us familiar with the Chicago Way can see something else in Solyndra — something that the Washington crowd calls “optics.” In fact, it’s not just a Washington saga — it has all the elements of a Chicago City Hall story, except with more zeros… The FBI is investigating what happened with Solyndra, a solar panel company that got a $535 million government-backed loan with the help of the Obama White House over the objections of federal budget analysts…Obama and Vice President Joe Biden got a nice photo op. They got to make speeches about being “green.” But then Solyndra went bankrupt. Americans lost jobs. Taxpayers got stuck with the bill. And members of Congress are now in high dudgeon and making speeches…Federal investigators want to know what role political fundraising played in the guarantee of the questionable loan. Washington bureaucrats warned the deal was lousy. And White House spokesmen flail desperately, like weakened victims in a cheesy vampire movie…So forget optics. What about smell? It smells bad, and it’s going to smell worse…Or, did you really believe it when the White House mouthpieces — who are also Chicago City Hall mouthpieces — promised they were bringing a new kind of politics to Washington?

Need a job? The North Dakota experiment shows that with energy production comes good paying jobs American Enterprise Institute (9/16/11) reports:  There’s no shortage of bad economics news these days. In August there were no new jobs created, retail sales were flat, consumer confidence plunged to recession-era lows, and it was reported this week that the nation’s poverty rate last year rose to the highest level since 1993. Yet, amid all of the national “gloom and doom” there is an amazing story of a booming economy in North Dakota, America’s most successful state by every economic measure. Here are some recent facts about North Dakota’s economy, which is flourishing as a direct result of the booming oil and gas production in the state’s oil-rich Bakken formation:…1. North Dakota set a new record in July for the most oil ever produced in a single month—more than 13 million total barrels at the rate of 423,600 barrels per day—an increase of almost 14 percent above the previous record in June, and a gain of almost 32 percent from July of last year (see chart below). In just a little more than two years (since June 2009), oil production in North Dakota has doubled to its current level. At the current rate of ongoing record-setting production increases, North Dakota will likely surpass California (540,000 barrels per day) and Alaska (550,000 barrels) by next year to become the number two oil-producing state in the country, behind only Texas (1.4 million barrels)….2. While the national economy struggles to add jobs in the current “jobless recovery,” jobs in North Dakota are increasing at a record-setting pace, and not just oil-related jobs. The overall state employment level reached an all-time high in July and is 10 percent above the pre-recession level in 2007. In contrast, U.S. payroll employment is still 5 percent below the December 2007 level. Oil-related employment in North Dakota has more than doubled in just two years, from 6,600 jobs in July 2009 to 15,800 jobs in July of this year.

Winning the Future — China invests billions in Canadian oil sands while bureaucrats squabble and anti energy activist get arrested Houston Chronicle (9/19/11) reports: As U.S. companies look toward oil riches in northern Canada, they’re encountering increasing competition – as well as some much-needed cash infusions – from the Far East…U.S. and Canadian companies have dominated Alberta’s oil sands for decades. Now, though, Chinese firms are rushing to snap up Canadian oil sands resources and invest in ongoing projects – to the tune of $15 billion in the past 18 months in Alberta alone…They are motivated by a desire to jump into one of the world’s lowest-risk oil investments and to quench the exploding energy demands of Asian markets – even though getting the product from Canada to Asia is just a pipe dream now…The foreign funding can help pay for what research firm IHS CERA estimates will be $100 billion in spending on oil sands projects over the next decade…And for a growing number of U.S. oil companies, many based in Houston, the infusion of Chinese cash in Canadian projects is welcome funding for some capital-intensive oil sands projects…”Many of the actual oil companies – no matter where they are from – are very interested in partnering,” said Jackie Forrest, the Calgary, Alberta-based head of oil sands research for IHS CERA. “That can help raise capital and, in some cases, also bring expertise and knowledge to the partnership.”…Most of the recent deals have been by Chinese companies buying shares in existing projects. For instance, Sinopec spent $4.65 billion last year buying ConocoPhillips’ 9 percent stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd., the world’s biggest oil sands producer. And earlier this summer, state-owned CNOOC spent $2.1 billion acquiring the bankrupt OPTI Canada, whose main asset was a 35 percent working interest in Nexen’s Long Lake oil sands project in Alberta.

This Houstonian is sad he doesn’t have a job with Solyndra and wants to know if Obama can bring the ‘green energy future’ to Texas Houston Chronicle (9/19/11) reports: With a Valero refinery in the background, environmental activists gathered in Hartmann Park in east Houston Sunday to protest the Keystone XL pipeline, which they say will lead to more pollution in smog-filled Houston….”The rest of the country gets to have a green energy future, but not this community,” Leslie Fields, the Sierra Club’s national environmental justice director, told a group of about 30 protesters who earlier marched the streets of the Manchester community. “This community is going to become a sacrifice zone. Why is that?”…The proposed 1,700-mile pipeline would carry oil from Alberta’s controversial tar sands to refineries in Houston and Port Arthur…Environmental concern…Like protesters around the nation, the Houston group is concerned that tar sands oil emits more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oil. They also worry it would endanger groundwater in states along the route…Bryan Parras, a founder of Houston-based Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, noted that it’s often poorer, minority communities who end up living near refineries and are most impacted by pollution produced by an industry that drives Houston’s economy. Residents of the area have high rates of asthma and cancer, he said…”This is going to lead to more health problems,” he said, noting that many of those who live in the area can’t afford to move, much less afford health insurance. “No matter how many jobs you create, it’s not worth the health problems children growing up here will have to deal with.”…Shawn Howard, a spokesman for TransCanada, which is building the Keystone project, however, says the claim that tar sands oil will mean higher emissions is exaggerated…”If people really want to focus on reducing emissions, 80 to 90 percent of emissions come from burning fossil fuel products such as using gasoline in our cars,” he said, adding that the pipeline is being built to meet market demand. “Refiners on the Gulf Coast approached us. That’s why we’re building this.”…Backers of the pipeline say it will lower reliance on oil from the volatile Middle East and create jobs, as well as provide energy security.

They are getting sloppy with embezzlement these days Wall Street Journal (9/9/11) reports: The political scandal over the failure of Solyndra, the politically connected solar-panel maker, just got a lot more interesting. The FBI raided the company’s Fremont, California offices yesterday and executed a search warrant…Congress has been investigating the company, which received a $535 million government loan guarantee in March 2009 and announced August 31 that it is filing for bankruptcy. Yesterday’s FBI raid is the first hint of a larger government probe, which is being conducted in cooperation with the Department of Energy’s Inspector General. The FBI declined to comment. A Solyndra spokesman said it was surprised by the raid and is cooperating…Solyndra was once a leading light, if you will, of the Obama Administration’s signature “green jobs” dreams. The Energy Department signed off on the loan guarantee under a George W. Bush-era law, and the Federal Financing Bank, a unit of the Treasury Department, also provided a loan with a 1.025% quarterly interest rate. A parade of Administration officials praised the investment, including President Obama, who said in a speech last year at the company’s Fremont headquarters that “companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.”…Solyndra never did turn a profit and laid off employees in November. But in February the company renegotiated its loan guarantee—with a hitch. Under the new agreement, Solyndra’s investors would loan the company $75 million but be first in line on repayment in the event of bankruptcy, in front of taxpayers…One of Solyndra’s biggest backers is the George Kaiser Family Foundation, whose namesake is an Oklahoma oilman who bundled campaign contributions from multiple sources for Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign…In an email yesterday, an Energy Department spokesman said the government “restructured the debt to give Solyndra more time to repay and avoid default—much like commercial lenders do when a homeowner is having trouble making the mortgage payments.”…The email added that the new deal ensured that “no additional taxpayer funding was used,” that Energy received “substantial additional collateral protection in the form of intellectual property, claims on the parent company and more,” and that the deal “permitted the company to complete, equip and begin operating its plant, which increased its value in any future liquidation or sale.” Sounds like Energy officials already feared Solyndra might go belly-up.

You have to love Ed Rendell (Penn ’65).  “You guys are screwing up.  But if you cut us in for a piece of the action, we can look the other way.” Gazette (9/8/11) reports: Former Gov. Ed Rendell closed out the first day of the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s inaugural conference on a fiery note, saying gas drillers have continued to “screw up” for too long and that they should be more loudly supporting a tax on their industry…A sharp rebuke from the Democratic politician who oversaw the beginning of the commonwealth’s Marcellus Shale exploration was an unexpected end to a day of industry-sponsored sessions touting the new jobs, technology and investments from natural gas drilling…Mr. Rendell, who handed over the reins to Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in January, pointed to the protesters outside the convention center around midday Wednesday as an example of how the activists have grown into “a serious, long-term problem.”…”[Drillers have] screwed up so bad that there are protesters everywhere anybody associated with this goes, and the protesters grow stronger and deeper in number,” he said… Mr. Rendell urged drilling firms to publicly support a tax on natural gas extraction and to write to Mr. Corbett indicating their support. Mr. Corbett has signed a pledge not to raise taxes during his term, specifically opposing the severance tax that Mr. Rendell twice failed to enact…However, some drillers, particularly the larger firms active in the commonwealth, have said they would support a tax or fee on their development, repeating that position to reporters during interviews Wednesday…Range Resources CEO John Pinkerton said enacting a tax or fee could give the industry some certainty of its future costs, and noted that his company was the one to urge the Department of Environmental Protection to hike permit fees in order to hire more staffers.

Now I understand why Google has been investing in renewable energy, they feel guilty for using as much energy as Salt Lake City New York Times (9/8/11) reports: Google disclosed Thursday that it continuously uses enough electricity to power 200,000 homes, but it says that in doing so, it also makes the planet greener… Every time a person runs a Google search, watches a YouTube video or sends a message through Gmail, the company’s data centers full of computers use electricity. Those data centers around the world continuously draw almost 260 million watts — about a quarter of the output of a nuclear power plant…Up to now, the company has kept statistics about its energy use secret. Industry analysts speculate it was because the information was embarrassing and would also give competitors a clue to how Google runs its operations…While the electricity figures may seem large, the company asserts that the world is a greener place because people use less energy as a result of the billions of operations carried out in Google data centers. Google says people should consider things like the amount of gasoline saved when someone conducts a Google search rather than, say, drives to the library. “They look big in the small context,” Urs Hoelzle, Google’s senior vice president for technical infrastructure, said in an interview.

You mean Californians might be on the hook for the whole $65 billion disaster that is Jerry Brown’s high speed rail to nowhere?  What they need is a U.S. President who can spend money like there’s no tomorrow to help them with this ridiculous idea.  Maybe someone who needs just another 450 billion to pop start the economy . . .Los Angeles Times (9/8/11) reports: As California prepares to commit tens of billions of dollars to an ambitious high-speed rail line from San Francisco to Southern California, Congress’ political will to provide the bulk of the funding is disappearing, leaving the possibility that the state could end up stuck with a crushing financial burden…State voters have agreed to issue more than $9 billion in bonds to build the system, but that’s a fraction of the $43 billion projected tab for the initial phase. And those costs could swell to $65 billion or more, by some estimates…Should federal funds dry up after the scheduled start of construction next year, the state could be left with no more than an unfulfilled dream and some tracks in the Central Valley…”If the federal government and private investors are not going to provide funds, and California is broke, why would it take on an enormous new commitment?” asked Martin Wachs, a Rand Corp. transportation expert and former director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies…In coming months, Gov. Jerry Brown will decide whether to issue the bonds to launch the project — at a time when the nation and state are attempting to control mounting public debt that has already damaged both their credit ratings…The bullet train hinges on a huge investment of federal dollars when Washington is intent on cutting the nation’s budget. Republicans who control the House of Representatives have already declared new rail construction their “lowest priority.”

Poor bastard bet the farm on Obama’s promise of green jobs and now he’s left with training in wind energy and no one is hiring American (9/8/11) reports: When Barack Obama was running for president, he promised to spend $150 billion over the next decade on renewable energy technologies, an investment that would lead to 5 million new, high-paying jobs that could never be outsourced…Once elected, Obama pushed through an economic stimulus plan that allocated $500 million to green job training efforts giving all Americans a shot at good jobs that benefit the environment…But more than two years later, these green job-training initiatives have fallen far short of the hype. Out-of-work Americans are finding that special training isn’t always enough to get a good “green” job. Or that the jobs they do qualify for have lousy pay and may last only as long as the government subsidizes them…Measuring the success of green job programs is difficult. The Labor Department has no reliable statistics on how many green jobs there are, or even a solid definition of just what a green job is. But people like Casey McDonald and his fiancée, Jade Mooneyhan, don’t need to see statistics to know that political promises do not amount to economic reality…Dashed hopes…McDonald and Mooneyhan moved from Tennessee to California so they could attend a private, wind-power technician training program. Mooneyhan planned to complete the program while McDonald took care of their then 1-year-old son, Jaeden. Once she finished training and got a job, he would start the program…The couple considered the $10,000 they saved for the trip as an investment in their future…McDonald said he’s had a lot of jobs, but the pay usually maxes out at $20 to $25 per hour…“I don’t want to be 55 and still working at $25 an hour,” he said. “We really, really wanted to secure something for us and our son, maybe in the future have a house that we can feel good about.”

In an effort to advert more solar bankruptcies, the Obama administration is now financing 160,000 solar installation on military bases Mercury News (9/7/11) reports: Foster City-based SolarCity, which has installed solar panels on 16,000 homes nationwide, on Wednesday announced an ambitious $1 billion plan to put solar panels on 160,000 houses and other buildings on military bases in 33 states…The move signals that the military, which is eager to reduce its energy use, is becoming a key consumer of clean technology — and at a scale far larger than ever seen in the private sector…”This is the largest domestic residential rooftop solar project in history,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. “This groundbreaking project is expected to create hundreds of jobs for Americans and provide clean, renewable power to our military families.”…The “SolarStrong” project is being funded by USRG Renewable Finance and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and has been awarded a guarantee from the Department of Energy to cover up to 80 percent of a $344 million loan…”One hundred sixty-thousand homes is big for anyone,” SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive said in an interview. “It’s 10 times the size of what we’ve done to date and would basically double the number of solar installations in the U.S.”…The first phase of the project, which will provide solar power to more than 2,000 military family homes, is already under way at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. SolarCity plans to target not only military housing but also community centers, administrative offices, maintenance buildings and storage.

At what point does this constitute criminal negligence? New York Times (9/8/11) reports: Undeterred by the bankruptcy filing of a California solar company that got $535 million in federal loan guarantees, the Energy Department is issuing two more large loan guarantees, albeit to companies that look like safer bets… The department will announce Thursday that it has completed a $150 million loan guarantee to 1366 Technologies, a company with a new way to make the silicon wafers used in solar cells. The company, based in Lexington, Mass., is the star pupil of the department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy, or ARPA-E, which makes grants to entities with radical ideas with great potential value; 1366 appears well on the way to being the first of the project recipients to reach commercial application.,,The company casts the wafers from molten silicon, cutting costs in half. The conventional method is to slice the wafers from a big block, turning half the silicon into dust. While Solyndra, the company that filed for bankruptcy, tried to sell a markedly different product, 1366 offers a commodity product made in a different way with lower production costs…Jonathan M. Silver, the head of the Energy Department’s loan guarantee program, said, “It’s a process innovation, not a product innovation. They can produce silicon wafers with much less material and many fewer steps.”…The price at which 1366 will sell its product is not clear, but Mr. Silver said he expected the company to continue to drive down the market price of solar cells.

Whether we like it or not, Canadian oil sands will be refined in the U.S. — the best and safest way will be through a pipeline, but rail or shipping will work too Forbes (9/8/11) reports: Canadian tar sands oil will almost certainly find their way to U.S. refineries even if a $7 billion pipeline from western Canada to the Gulf Coast doesn’t gain federal approval, a U.S. State Department consultant has concluded…Lexington, Mass.-based EnSys Energy & Systems Inc.’s report said if the proposed 1,980-mile-long Keystone XL pipeline or a similar pipeline project is halted, it would be “difficult to visualize a situation” that would prevent the Canadian oil from making its way to U.S. refineries by rail, barge or trucks…The study commissioned by the State Department estimated that rail alone could haul 1.25 million barrels of Canadian crude daily by 2030, or nearly twice the amount of the proposed pipeline…”U.S. and Canadian rail sectors have a history of expanding to meet clearly defined demand increases,” according to the study, which cited North Dakota’s booming oil patch as a recent example…The analysis was done at the request of the State Department, which determined last month that the proposed pipeline project would not have significant environmental impacts along its U.S. route…The Keystone XL pipeline, a project of TransCanada Corp. of Calgary, would carry crude extracted from tar sands near Hardisty to the Gulf Coast via Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. A spur also is planned to tap into North Dakota’s oil patch.

First, and as always, Chris Tucker is as cool as the other side of the pillow.  Second, it would have been good if someone, maybe someone who had done some focus groups or polling early on, had suggested to the industry that “hydraulic fracturing” was a suboptimal phrase Fuel Fix (9/8/11) reports: The Marcellus Shale natural-gas industry has gotten tripped up by the F-bomb…Not that word…“Fracking has become almost a dirty word,” said Brian McDermott, spokesman for Gregory FCA Communications, an Ardmore public relations firm that has measured popular sentiments associated with various resource-extraction terms. It found fracking lacking, scoring even lower in positives than strip-mining…Fracking, of course, is short for hydraulic fracturing, the controversial natural-gas recovery process. The word — harsh, threatening and vaguely profane — has become a linguistic weapon in the shale-gas culture wars…The fracas over fracturing will be on full display in Philadelphia this week as the Marcellus Shale Coalition holds a two-day conference to promote the industry…Anti-drilling activists plan a Wednesday protest outside the Convention Center, providing a stage for some censor-defying chants employing the new F-word…The oil and gas industry is irked about what it calls mischaracterizations of fracking, not the least of which is how the word is spelled. In the trade press, it is frac…But as the shale-gas boom took off, and the mainstream media took interest, the K got appended to frac to reduce the chance of mispronunciation. Otherwise, fracing might look like it rhymes with racing…The new spelling has an unfortunate resemblance to one of George Carlin’s seven dirty words, providing anti-drilling activists with a bounty of double entendres…“I take exception to the fact that drilling opponents have taken to using frack as euphemism for a curse word I can’t print in this family newsletter,” wrote Will Brackett, managing editor of the Powell Shale Digest, a trade weekly based in Fort Worth, Texas…Mr. Brackett now inserts an apostrophe into the noun — frac’ing — to avoid the offensive K. But his adaptation has failed to win widespread acceptance.

Economic growth?  Jobs?  Tax revenue?  Domestic energy production?  Are you sure all those are related? Houston Chronicle (9/7/11) reports: The congressional super committee searching for ways to pare at least $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit should open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling instead of increasing taxes, a top House Republican said Wednesday…Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., the head of the House Natural Resources Committee, said he would make that ANWR recommendation to the 12-member panel, which holds its first public meeting today…Under Congress’ debt ceiling deal, the newly created deficit reduction committee has until Nov. 23 to approve a plan to cut $1.2 trillion or more from the deficit over the next decade. If the committee fails to reach a compromise or it doesn’t pass Congress, automatic, across-the-board cuts in domestic and defense spending would start in 2013…Since Republicans on the panel and in the House are unlikely to support any plan that hikes taxes to raise revenue, the lawmakers on the joint committee need to search for other solutions, Hastings noted….”They need to find a means to increase revenue to the federal government without raising taxes (and) this is a logical extension of that,” Hastings said at a wide-ranging summit on energy-related jobs sponsored by The Hill newspaper and the American Petroleum Institute….”Increasing American energy production is one of the easiest ways to generate federal revenue.”…According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there are an estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil harbored in the Arctic refuge’s coastal plain. At peak production, that could supply the U.S. with up to 1.45 million barrels of oil daily.

So at least someone in town gets the idea that the real jobs in energy involve domestic production of affordable, reliable energy rather than throwing money at pinwheels E&E News (9/7/11) reports: As President Obama is gearing up for his much-publicized jobs speech tomorrow night, House Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee are setting up their own jobs pitch — for more domestic energy production…The panel tomorrow will hold the first of a two-part oversight hearing on the potential to create jobs in the domestic energy sector…”American energy and mineral production, whether onshore, offshore or renewable, already employs millions of Americans and could support millions of additional jobs by simply harnessing the resources we have here at home,” Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said in a statement. “Yet during the first two years of the Obama Administration, American energy production has faced constant obstacles from unnecessary government regulations and red tape.”…The hearing comes after Republicans and energy industry advocates for months have attempted to tie together the sluggish economy with a slowdown in domestic oil and gas drilling activities and an increase in energy production regulations…”The offshore energy industry has shed thousands of jobs and lost the potential to create millions, renewable energy jobs have seen little growth, and the mining industry is facing job-destroying proposed new rules,” Hastings said. “It’s simply unacceptable for this administration to put the brakes on the job-creating potential of some of America’s leading economic contributors.”

See, the great thing about Florida is that they are completely unaware of how ridiculous and nonsensical they look when talking about energy exploration Miami Herald (9/7/11) reports: Gov. Rick Scott found himself on both sides of the fence on Tuesday when he said in a speech that he supports oil drilling in the Everglades, then hours later issued a clarification that he didn’t mean “an expansion of drilling.”..Scott’s remarks to the Tallahassee-based Economics Club of Florida were prompted by an audience member who asked whether the governor agreed with Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann’s call last week for oil drilling in the Everglades for “additional energy.”…“You know we already have drilling in the Everglades. We already have oil wells in the Everglades,’’ Scott replied. “There’s a road in Naples called ‘Oil Well Road,’ so we already have oil drilling. We’ve had it since 1943.’’…He noted that most Floridians are “very shocked” to learn that drilling is happening in Florida. He added that “I think we have to be very cautious if there’s going to be any more drilling.”…The comments unleashed immediate warnings from environmentalists, who have fought for decades to shield South Florida’s crucial watershed from additional oil drilling as they attempt to restore the Everglades ecosystem….”My suggestion to the Governor is quite simple: Don’t go there,’’ said Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, the non-profit agency formed to advocate for protection of the state’s River of Grass. “Unless Governor Scott wants to unleash a firestorm of opposition from hunters, fishermen, conservationists and millions of Floridians who depend on the Everglades for their water supply, he should abandon any notion of encouraging drilling in this sacred place.”

Did you know Israel has the 2nd largest oil shale reserves in the world? That we are the first? But they don’t have Ken Salazar, so they’re pursuing theirs while we twiddle our thumbs  The Australian (9/6/11) reports: But an updated version may be required if Harold Vinegar and his colleagues get their way. Dr Vinegar, the former chief scientist of Royal Dutch Shell, is at the centre of an ambitious project to turn Israel into one of the world’s leading oil producers….Israel Energy Initiatives, where Dr Vinegar is chief scientist, is working on projects to extract oil and natural gas from oil shale from a 238sq km area of the Shfela Basin, to the south and west of Jerusalem…Oil shale mining is often frowned upon, not least by the environmental lobby, as a dirty process that is both energy and water-intensive. IEI believes that its technique will be cleaner than that of other operators because the oil will be separated from the shale rock up to 300m beneath the ground. Water will be a by-product of the process rather than being consumed by it in large volumes.

Seriously, you would think a professor at a law school, especially a decent one like UT’s, would understand the federal administrative process before he started to yap Politico (9/6/11) reports: Thomas McGarity, a professor at the University of Texas Law School and a member scholar at the Center for Progressive Reform, wrote in a blog post Tuesday that Jackson should either defy the president by issuing the standard or “do the honorable thing and resign.”…Plenty of other observers don’t think Jackson is looking to get out in a hurry, pointing to other high-profile EPA regulations coming down the pike, such as the utility air toxics rule and greenhouse gases regulations… GOP energy strategist Michael McKenna said he doesn’t think Jackson is on the outs. “Where’s she going to go?” he said…But he said Jackson’s clout has been jeopardized now that she’s been so publicly overruled by the White House…She’ll be thinking, “What am I going to get sandbagged on next?” McKenna said. “This is just throwing chum into the water for sharks.”…EPA’s critics in industry and on Capitol Hill have already called for Obama to ease up on rules beyond just the ozone standard…Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said Tuesday that he hopes Obama will continue to pull back on other controversial rules.

We aren’t running out of oil, we are running into oil — Chevron makes huge discover in Gulf of Mexico Fuel Fix (9/7/11) reports: Chevron has made a new oil discovery in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico…The San Ramon, Calif.-based oil major said it encounted some 380 feet of net pay in the Lower Tertiary Wilcox Sands about 216 miles off the Louisiana coast in 6,759 feet of water. The Keathley Canyon Block 736 Well No. 1 was drilled to a depth of 31,545 feet…Chevron started drilling the well in March 2010 but had to stop in June 2010 when the U.S. government imposed a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon accident…In March 2011 it became the first wildcat well in the Gulf to resume drilling after the accident…The well results are still being evaluated, so the company will need to drill several more wells before it can tell if the field will be a commercially viable, said Gary Luquette, president of Chevron North America Exploration and Production…“The Moccasin discovery underscores the importance of the deep-water Gulf of Mexico both to Chevron and to the United States,” Luquette said. “Moccasin is an important addition to our queue of high-quality opportunities around the globe.”…Chevron and BP both have a 43.75 percent stake in the well while Samson Offshore has a 12.5 percent stake…If the play is successful it will most likely be combined with another Chevron development just 15 miles away, known as Buckskin, and will be served by a single floating production platform, Luquette said…The next step involves analyzing all the data gathered from the well and drilling another appraisal well sometime next year, Luquette said…The Moccasin project is one of several that represents the $1 million-per-day bet that Chevron is making in the Gulf’s deep water.

The Obama administration’s favorite solar company, Solyndra, files for bankruptcy New York Times (9/7/11) reports: Solyndra, a solar panel maker that received $535 million in federal loan guarantees, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday…Solyndra, which also received more than $700 million in venture capital financing, said it would try to find a buyer quickly to avoid a fire sale liquidation…The solar industry has been in turmoil this year as a glut of panels has sent prices plummeting 25 percent. Manufacturing capacity expanded just as government austerity measures in Europe eliminated subsidies and undercut demand…Solyndra cut prices to try to compete but said in court papers that it had been unable to match the extended payment terms offered by foreign competitors…The company, based in Fremont, Calif., said last week it had suspended operations and laid off 1,100 workers…Solyndra’s bankruptcy filing followed similar filings by Evergreen Solar and SpectraWatt, a private company that was backed by the Intel Corporation…Solyndra said in documents filed in Delaware’s bankruptcy court that it planned to spend the next four weeks trying to drum up interest among potential buyers to avoid shutting down permanently and selling its assets piecemeal to repay its creditors.

Biden defends crony capitalism and says he would support wasting taxpayer money on auto bailouts again The Hill (9/7/11) reports: Vice President Biden defended the auto bailout and the Cash for Clunkers program, saying he’d do them again…The auto bailout rescued all three big auto manufacturers from failure, including Ford, which didn’t take any federal money, saving 1 million jobs and preserving the nation’s “heavy-duty” manufacturing sector, he told Car and Driver magazine in an interview for the October issue, released Tuesday… “Had we not forced the car companies to reorganize, then given them help, well, the failure of the suppliers then could have caused Ford to fail as well,” Biden said. “So this has exceeded everyone’s expectations.”…Even without the recession, Biden said the Obama administration would have still provided funds to prop up the companies….”I would have, just because I don’t accept this proposition that somehow the U.S. cannot handle a heavy-duty manufacturing capacity, that we should shift our focus to service industries,” he said. “Look at Japan and Germany — their labor costs are as high as ours. Big countries have to be able to make big things. Have to.”…Meanwhile, GM is scheduled to pay off its government loans on time after Chrysler paid off its government loans six years early, he said.

At the end of the day, it comes to down to whether you want the Canadians as allies, or would you rather have them snuggle up to the Chinese.  Even for the most hopeless Administration since James Earl Carter, that’s an easy decisionNew York Times (8/29/11) reports: The State Department gave a crucial green light on Friday to a proposed 1,711-mile pipeline that would carry heavy oil from oil sands in Canada across the Great Plains to terminals in Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast…The project, which would be the longest oil pipeline outside of Russia and China, has become a potent symbol in a growing fight that pits energy security against environmental risk, a struggle highlighted by last year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico…By concluding that the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline would have minimal effect on the environment, President Obama would risk alienating environmental activists, who gave him important support in the 2008 election and were already upset by his recent decisions to expand domestic oil drilling and delay clean air rules. Pipeline opponents have protested in front of the White House for a week, resulting in nearly 400 arrests…At the same time, rising concerns about the weak economy and high gas prices have made it difficult for the administration to oppose a project that would greatly expand the nation’s access to oil from a friendly neighbor and create tens of thousands of jobs…The project still must clear several hurdles, including endorsement by other federal agencies, additional studies, public hearings and consultation with the states through which the pipeline will pass. But all signs point to the Obama administration approving the project by the end of the year, perhaps with modifications.

Japan PM doubles as Kamikaze Pilot — blows up economy on way out the door with renewable feed-in tariff.  Sayonara affordable energy Bloomberg (8/28/11) reports: Japan approved a bill today to subsidize electricity from renewable sources, joining European nations in shifting away from nuclear power after the Fukushima reactor meltdowns in March…The renewable-energy bill was passed by the upper house following approval by the lower chamber on Aug. 23 and was one of the last acts of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, whose support sagged over his handling of Japan’s worst postwar disaster. He said today he’s resigning after parliament passed the legislation…The bill allows for incentives that guarantee above-market rates for wind, solar and geothermal energy. The so-called feed- in tariff created a race to install solar panels when implemented in Germany and Spain. In Japan, it may help Chinese companies such as Suntech Power Holdings Co. and Canadian Solar Inc. to gain a foothold…Japan gets about 9 percent of its electricity from low- carbon sources. Kan has called for that level to increase and for the country to phase out atomic energy after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima nuclear complex. Before the crisis, atomic plants supplied about 30 percent of the country’s electricity…Solar panels had capacity to produce about 3.68 gigawatts of power at the end of last year in Japan, and the government is targeting 28 gigawatts by 2020. Installations may total 1.4 gigawatts to 1.6 gigawatts this year, according to London-based researcher Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A new nuclear plant can typically generate more than 1 gigawatt.

Better yet, make all agencies write regulations with nontoxic invisible ink Wall Street Journal (8/28/11) reports: Since everyone has a suggestion or three about what President Obama can do to get the economy cooking again, here’s one of ours: Immediately suspend the Environmental Protection Agency’s bid to reorganize the U.S. electricity industry, and impose a moratorium on EPA rules at least until hiring and investment rebound for an extended period…The EPA is currently pushing an unprecedented rewrite of air-pollution rules in an attempt to shut down a large portion of the coal-fired power fleet. Though these regulations are among the most expensive in the agency’s history, none were demanded by the late Pelosi Congress. They’re all the result of purely bureaucratic discretion under the Clean Air Act, last revised in 1990…As it happens, those 1990 amendments contain an overlooked proviso that would let Mr. Obama overrule EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s agenda. With an executive order, he could exempt all power plants “from compliance with any standard or limitation” for two years, or even longer using rolling two-year periods. All he has to declare is “that the technology to implement such standard is not available and that it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so.”…Both criteria are easily met. Most important, the EPA’s regulatory cascade is a clear and present danger to the reliability and stability of the U.S. power system and grid. The spree affects plants that provide 40% of U.S. baseload capacity in the U.S., and almost half of U.S. net generation. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, which is charged with ensuring the integrity of the power supply, reported this month in a letter to the Senate that 81 gigawatts of generating capacity is “very likely” or “likely” to be subtracted by 2018 amid coal plant retirements and downgrades…That’s about 8% of all U.S. generating capacity. Merely losing 56 gigawatts—a midrange scenario in line with FERC and industry estimates—is the equivalent of wiping out all power generation for Florida and Mississippi.

Krupp-tion of the facts: EDF gets its comeuppance. (but we told you that) Wall Street Journal(8/29/11) reports: Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp’s “The Smart Path for the Shale Gas Revolution” (op-ed, Aug. 18) makes a vague reference to studies that raise questions about whether natural gas emits, on a life-cycle basis, less heat-trapping pollution or carbon than does coal. When making this point, Mr. Krupp may have been thinking of a controversial study authored by Robert W. Howarth and others that has been heavily criticize…A recent peer-reviewed study from Carnegie Mellon University that was financed in part by the Sierra Club concluded that Marcellus Shale gas is 20% to 50% cleaner than coal when greenhouse-gas pollution is used to compare the environmental impact of gas and coal. The study specifically analyzed the carbon footprint of Marcellus gas and not other shale reservoirs. The National Energy Technology Laboratory has also issued a study that arrives at the conclusion that gas is about 50% cleaner than coal on a life cycle carbon basis. The Aug. 5 CMU study further found that there was no statistical difference between the carbon emissions from a Marcellus Shale well and a conventional gas well…Finally, gas power plants emit no toxic air pollution—mercury, arsenic, lead—and already meet the EPA’s proposed Air Toxic Rule, while 90% of the toxic air pollution that comes from power plants is emitted by coal-burning plants.

Does this mean KP is giving up on drilling taxpayers for their green energy pay-off? Wall Street Journal (8/29/11) reports: Venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the late-1990s dot-com frenzy with investments in Netscape Communications Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and, later, Google Inc…But after spreading its bets to clean technology—and missing out on early-stage investments in some of the hottest new Internet companies—the firm is scrambling to grab a leadership role in the latest Web boom…That was evident at a June event in San Francisco, where the firm hosted a packed room of entrepreneurs. At the front of the room, Kleiner venture capitalist Bing Gordon spent an hour onstage espousing his theory of “gamification”—that is, how start-ups can benefit from using online gaming techniques—to the gathering…”We used to do these events internally,” said Mr. Gordon, as he mingled with the crowd near an open bar. But our marketing people “said we should do a public event this time.”…That a firm with Kleiner’s track record sees it necessary to market itself is a testament to the fever sweeping Silicon Valley. It is also an indication of how eager the firm is to rev up its profile in Internet investing…Last year, the firm created an “sFund” to invest in social Web start-ups and hired famed Morgan Stanley Internet analyst Mary Meeker. Kleiner also raised a Digital Growth Fund of about $1 billion to invest in “late stage” Web companies and has since snagged stakes in Twitter Inc., Groupon Inc. and others.

They don’t call them bird blenders for nothing…Washington Post (8/29/11) reports: Six birds found dead recently in Southern California’s Tehachapi Mountains were majestic golden eagles. But some bird watchers say that in an area where dozens of wind turbines slice the air they were also sitting ducks…The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating to determine what killed the big raptors, and declined to divulge the conditions of the remains. But the likely cause of death is no mystery to wildlife biologists who say they were probably clipped by the blades of some of the 80 wind turbines at the three-year-old Pine Tree Wind Farm Project, operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

You should probably be aware of this effort because it argues that economic growth is the right answer.  Which is a completely revolutionary (and accurate) thought Open the Gulf (8/26/11) reports: In June 2010, the federal government instituted a moratorium on all deepwater drilling and nearly halted shallow-water drilling following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.   As the region recovered from the oil spill, it became increasingly obvious another tragedy was unfolding… At first, we heard stories of laid-off roughnecks and idled service operators.  With every rig in the Gulf shutdown, rigs either moved abroad or sat idled, leaving thousands of hard-working Americans without a source of income.  As the months passed and the industry was prohibited from resuming operations, the tumult started to spread…Vendors throughout the country lost orders for equipment.  Manufacturers from Illinois, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and even California – areas thousands of miles from the Gulf but clearly dependent on the region – lost orders and were forced to cut back…When the Administration announced that it was lifting the moratorium, we all felt a sense of relief – until Interior Secretary Salazar also announced that he would continue to deny permits in both the deep water and shallow water while he developed a new regulatory regime. This permit freeze has led to a 250% increase in pending exploration and production plans and an 80% drop in the number of permits issued in the Gulf.

About the whole James Richard Perry thing…you might want to think about what his federal energy policy will look like; we might have a George W. Bush big government type masquerading around as a fiscal hawk Texas Tribune (8/26/11) reports: The cost of building thousands of miles of transmission lines to carry wind power across Texas is now estimated at $6.79 billion, a 38 percent increase from the initial projection three years ago…The new number, which amounts to roughly $270 for every Texan, comes from the latest update on the project prepared for the Public Utility Commission (see page six). Ratepayers will ultimately be on the hook for the cost, but no one has begun to see the charges appear on their electric bills yet because the transmission companies building the lines must first get approval from the commission before passing on the costs to customers…A commission spokesman, Terry Hadley, says that the first of these “rate recovery” applications may be filed before the end of the year. Ultimately, the commission says, the charges could amount to $4 to $5 per month on Texas electric bills, for years…In 2008, when the Public Utility Commission approved the project, it was estimated at $4.93 billion. Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints the three Public Utility Commissioners, has strongly backed the build-out, which will result in several thousand miles of new transmission lines carrying wind power from West Texas to large cities hundreds of miles across the state. This is expected to spark a further boom in wind farm development, particularly in the Panhandle. Texas already leads the nation, by far, in wind power production. Electricity generated by other sources, like natural gas, coal or solar, can also use the lines.

Another milepost in California’s sad, depressing decline into the Third World Los Angeles Times (8/25/11) reports: In a major effort to create more high-tech jobs, Gov. Jerry Brown is sponsoring legislation to extend a state program that collects about $400 million a year from utility customers and invests it in renewable energy and efficiency programs…The surcharge, added to monthly electric bills since 1997, is set to expire at the end of the year, and the Legislature has only two weeks to reauthorize the levy…But because the surcharge is a tax, the bill has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the Legislature. That would require rare bipartisan approval, yet some Republicans have shown support for the idea…A draft of the bill — which the Brown administration calls the Clean Energy, Jobs and Investment Act of 2011 — was presented at a private meeting late last week in the governor’s office with utility executives, legislative staffers, environmentalists and power plant developers, The Times has learned…The measure is a “priority for Gov. Brown because of its proven job-creation potential and role in galvanizing California’s innovative clean-tech economy,” Nancy McFadden, Brown’s top legislative aide, said in an email.

Who is more valuable to Obama, the greens or the unions? The Keystone XL Pipeline hangs in the balance while Americans suffer from higher energy costs The Hill (8/26/11) reports: Environmental groups are ratcheting up political pressure on President Obama to reject a massive proposed oil pipeline, warning that approval of the project could make the president vulnerable going into the 2012 elections…“It will be increasingly difficult to mobilize the environmental base and in particular to mobilize young people” if Obama approves the pipeline, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said Thursday… Environmental groups have mounted an increasingly aggressive opposition campaign to TransCanada’s 1,700-mile proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Canadian oil sands from Alberta to refineries in Texas…In recent weeks, the groups have sought to shine a spotlight on the White House, stressing that the final decision to approve the controversial pipeline lies with the president.

The truth is almost always difficult to face.  Fortunately, Congresswoman Lummis is one tough customer Wyoming Tribune (8/25/11) reports: U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., on Wednesday called out three prominent conservation groups that she said “are giving responsible environmental organizations a black eye.”…Speaking at the Petroleum Association of Wyoming’s annual meeting in Casper, Lummis singled out WildEarth Guardians, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project…”These are three organizations that are filing constant litigation, that have cottage industries built up to fund their lawyers and their lawsuits against federal agencies and the federal government to stop certain activities,” she said…Lummis and U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., have introduced legislation that would cap attorneys’ fees and block groups whose net worth exceeds $7 million from filing for payment under the Equal Access to Justice Act, which reimburses attorney’s fees and costs associated with suing the federal government…Lummis and others have alleged that environmental groups have abused the act, using taxpayer dollars to block government actions that they oppose…How much money environmental groups have received under the EAJA is disputed…According to the Missoulian newspaper, Lummis claimed earlier this year that 14 environmental groups have recovered $37 million in judgements and legal fees from 1,200 lawsuits under settlements with the federal government.

Leaving no doubt that the only paper read in the White House is the formerly great New York Times, the Obama Administration unleashed another attack against the last remaining bright spot in the American economy….the miracle of hydraulic fracturing Wall Street Journal (8/25/11) reports: The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking oil and gas companies to provide it with detailed information—including chemicals used and efforts to minimize environmental impact—about their use of a controversial drilling process used to crack open natural gas trapped in rocks… The federal government’s investor-and-markets watchdog is stepping into the heated environmental debate surrounding hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” according to government and industry officials, even as state and federal environmental officials have begun to bring greater pressure on the industry. The process, which involves pumping water, chemicals and sand underground to free difficult-to-reach natural gas in shale basins, has come under criticism from environmental groups ad some lawmakers over concerns toxins in the mix may contaminate air and water…The SEC move shows the broad interest among Washington regulators in taking a closer look at fracking and suggests companies that are betting billions of dollars on the technology will increasingly need to weigh disclosing techniques they often consider proprietary. Battles over disclosure have already broken out at the state level, including in states such as New York and Pennsylvania that sit on the giant Marcellus Shale, an underground formation that has become a fracking hotbed because of the large quantities of natural gas there. Just last week, Noble Energy Inc. paid $3.4 billion for a stake in developing 663,350 acres there… Regulators in several states have identified cases in which drilling—although not necessarily the fracturing process in particular—has allowed natural gas to seep into residential water wells, and at least one scientific study has linked drilling and gas contamination more broadly. But there have been few if any documented cases of contamination by the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. The industry acknowledges that improperly constructed wells can allow gas to escape, but says such cases are rare and aren’t directly tied to fracturing itself.

This is a convoluted way of saying there’s a general consensus to be made that we can save a lot of money by cutting all energy subsidies and letting energy companies compete in the open market U.S. News (8/24/11) reports: With the task of slashing federal spending levels by as much as $1.5 trillion over the next decade, the congressional bipartisan, bicameral debt “super committee” has its work cut out for it. But a new report called Green Scissors 2011 may offer a starting place toward finding a passable solution…The report offers a kind of give and take between the right and left: Tackle wasteful federal subsidies, while protecting the environment. Its sponsors, which include a range of political groups from Friends of the Earth, a progressive environmental organization, to conservative free-market advocate the Heartland Institute, represent a genuine bipartisan consensus—one that they can only hope transfers to the halls of Congress later this year…Subsidies, as the contributors to Green Scissors have realized, are a good place to find common ground. For one, while conservatives and fiscal hawks are mostly against revenue increases to the federal government, genuine subsidies—generally defined by those on the right as narrow carve-outs that disrupt the free market and favor certain industries and special interests over others—are often an exception. So, with the mentality that the fewer subsidies the better, they’ve met progressives and green advocates halfway to at least start with repealing subsidies that negatively affect the environment…Energy subsidies make up a huge bulk of the $380 billion worth of cuts on the Green Scissors list. It’s no surprise that subsidies to fossil fuel industries—like royalty relief and manufacturing tax deductions for the oil and gas industry—made it, but the report also targets incentives for the presumably cleaner nuclear industry and alternative energy sources like biofuels.

I don’t think these greenies thought through their protest…they are being arrested and driven away in gas powered vehicles and being detained in a coal powered jail. Meanwhile, President Obama needs the union jobs to build the Keystone XL Pipeline The Hill (8/24/11) reports: Top officials with several prominent environmental groups are voicing support for demonstrations at the White House that call for President Obama to block a pipeline that would greatly expand imports from Canada’s oil sands…Their joint letter Wednesday adds to the political pressure on the White House over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, signifying that it’s emerging as a priority for a key part of Obama’s liberal base. Signers include the heads of the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, which have the environmental movement’s largest political operations, as well as the Environmental Defense Fund, a group more often known for playing a less confrontational, inside game (although that may be changing)…“It’s perhaps the biggest climate test you face between now and the election. If you block it, you will trigger a surge of enthusiasm from the green base that supported you so strongly in the last election. We expect nothing less,” states the letter from top officials with groups that also include the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment America, Greenpeace, 350.org, Friends of the Earth, and the Rainforest Action Network…More than 275 people have now been arrested near the White House in civil disobedience protests that began Saturday, organizers say.

China has become the gate keeper of key ingredients for renewable energy, but only because our government will not let us mine rare earth minerals New York Times (8/25/11) reports: China has long used access to its giant customer base and cheap labor as bargaining chips to persuade foreign companies to open factories within its borders… Now, corporate executives say, it is using its near monopoly on certain minerals — in particular, scarce metals vital to products like hybrid cars, cellphones and energy-efficient light bulbs — to make it difficult for foreign manufacturers of high-tech materials to build or expand factories anywhere except China. Companies that continue making their products outside the country must contend with tighter supplies and much higher prices for the materials because of steep taxes and other export controls imposed by China over the last two years…Companies like Showa Denko and Santoku of Japan and Intematix of the United States are adding factory capacity in China this year instead of elsewhere because they need access to the scarce metals, known as rare earths…“We saw the writing on the wall — we simply bought the equipment and ramped up in China to begin with,” said Mike Pugh, director of worldwide operations for Intematix, who said the company would have preferred to build its new factory near its Fremont, Calif., headquarters.

What if the government called a shortage but no one cared? Marcellus holds 41 times more gas and 339 times more petroleum than the Bush Administration estimated in 2002 Tri Today (8/23/11) reports: A recent U.S. Geological Survey study determined that the Marcellus shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of recoverable natural gas liquids, much more than initial estimates indicated…Before this study released Tuesday, USGS Marcellus shale estimates compiled in 2002 projected about 2 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas to exist in the region. The new study indicates a more than 4,000 percent increase in anticipated production…”The increase in technically recoverable resource is due to new geological information and engineering data,” the study states. “As technological developments in producing unconventional resources have been significant in the last decade.”…The study was conducted in parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia…Locally, the shale’s location that includes being beneath the Mahoning Valley has been credited with urging V&M Star to build a $650 million expansion and Ultra Premium Oilfield Services to open a new factory in Brookfield. Those two projects are expected to add more than 500 local jobs, according to the companies.

Just come out and say it NYT, you hate poor people and want them to pay more for energy New York Times (8/24/11) reports: Hold a vial of pumped and processed oil to the light here, just before it enters the pipeline that one executive jokingly calls “the cash register,” and you can see a layer of watery sediment settled at the bottom…The vial contains diluted bitumen. What happens to it inside pipelines, 0.5 percent sediment content and all, is powering a controversy that spans the continent…Environmental and safety groups warn that diluted bitumen poses a greater risk of pipeline corrosion and spills than conventional fuel or the synthetic crude also produced from the Canadian oil sands. The oil and gas industry, bolstered by Canadian regulators and policymakers, blasts this claim as hyperbolic fearmongering…”The challenge we have is combating emotion with facts,” Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert said during an interview this month when asked about the safety charges leveled by critics of oil sands development, particularly the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline…Liepert readily acknowledged, however, that few if any targeted studies of diluted bitumen’s corrosion risks are available to help him make the case for more oil sands development…”I guess we could” gather specific facts to help beat back conservationist attacks, he added. “It wouldn’t seem to me like a difficult thing to do.”…Yet at the Calgary headquarters of the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), the independent regulator of Alberta’s vast and lucrative oil sands resources, the very notion of studying how diluted bitumen affects pipeline safety struck senior officials as unnecessary.

If it’s not the BLM, it’s someone else — greenies are creating green jobs, but only particular kind: lawyers Wyoming Tribune (8/23/11) reports: Three environmental groups are suing the Bureau of Land Management in federal court over the recent leasing of two tracts of coal in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming…WildEarth Guardians, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife filed a lawsuit Aug. 16 against the agency in federal court in Washington, D.C., over the environmental effects of the 350 million tons of coal contained in the tracts…The groups contend the BLM didn’t properly conduct its assessment of the environmental impacts of mining, transporting and burning the coal…The Belle Ayr North tract, which contains 221.7 million tons of coal, sold to a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy July 13. The Caballo West tract, which contains 130.1 million tons of coal, sold to a subsidiary of Abingdon, Va.-based Alpha Natural Resources Aug. 17…“Alpha and Peabody are coal companies, and we can’t expect them to look out for anything other than their bottom line,” said Adam Kron, staff attorney for Defenders of Wildlife, in a news release. “But BLM is a federal agency and a steward of our public lands and has no excuse for approving this reckless and short-sighted deal.”…The BLM didn’t return a request for comment Monday…The companies bid against each other for the two leases. Alpha’s $143.4 million bid for the Caballo West tract — at $1.10 a ton — set a record for the highest amount offered per ton in the basin. The tracts are between Alpha’s Belle Ayr mine and Peabody’s Caballo mine.

Steven Chu says we all win when we are more energy efficient, but what he fails to consider or understand is the efficient use of capital. For example, does the small business owner weatherize her plant because of a mandate or does she hire a new employee? Maybe she saves her money because she has no idea what the Obama Administration is going to do next Times and Democrat (8/23/11) reports: U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu says the entire community wins when people make their homes and businesses more energy efficient.
“You have more money in your pocket. You created jobs in your local community in making those retrofits and you created investments for the long-term future for yourself, your home and the United States,” Chu said Tuesday…Chu, co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for physics, stopped by Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College for a summit designed to educate entrepreneurs on how the DOE supports small businesses…He noted the Department of Energy’s support for energy efficiency through loans and partnerships with states and organizations…”The Department of Energy is doing everything it can to partner with states,” Chu said. “We want to give you the tools so you will know exactly what you should be doing for the most efficient energy methods possible.”

All colleges need to do in order to reduce their carbon footprint is recycle the beer cans. That didn’t work? How about these hippy professors teach outside instead of air-conditioned classrooms? New York Times (8/23/11) reports: Colleges and universities across the country have quickly taken to measuring their environmental footprint: energy efficiency, consumption levels, renewable energy targets, number of green buildings, recycling rates, water use and even the prevalence of sustainability curriculums. But in this rush to go green, two of the three sustainability pillars have remained largely in shadow…“In the U.S., unlike much of the world, the organizing paradigm of sustainability [began] with an environmental orientation and then added on environmental justice and ecological economics,” said Paul Rowland, executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), in a recent e-mail exchange. “This is a historical root that has been difficulty to shake.”…The recent profusion of university sustainability offices is perhaps best reflected in the rise in membership to AASHE, which has grown by more than 2,200 percent in the past five years, with more than three-quarters of campus sustainability positions created since 2007…David Orr, a self-described “loving critic of higher education” and professor and special assistant to the president at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, takes a more critical view of the situation. “Colleges and universities haven’t rigorously and energetically challenged their role in planetary deterioration,” said Dr. Orr. “They have been under-performers relative to the challenges humans are going to face and are already facing.”