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Land Shark: Locking AwayMillions of Energy-Rich Acres Out West a “Top Priority” for Few Hours thatRemain in Lame Duck Session, Sen. Reid Declares.E&E News(12/20, subs. req’d) reports, “Republican leaders over the weekend urged defeatof the omnibus package of 110 public lands, water and wildlife bills thatSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced Friday and hopes to passin the final days of this Congress. House Natural Resources Chairman-elect DocHastings (R-Wash.) called the package of 110 bills (S. 303) "bloated"and said it authorizes more than $18 billion in spending over 10 years."Instead of haphazardly approving billions in new spending, we have anobligation to ask if spending money on these programs is so critical that weshould further indebt ourselves to foreign countries and put our economicsecurity at risk," Hastings said in a statement. "This monster billmust be defeated." Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican onEPW — also slammed the bill. Inhofe said through a spokesman that the package,unlike certain individual measures included, had no chance of passing andshowed that Democrats would rather "play politics than ensure passage ofenvironmental legislation." "What is truly unfortunate is that withinthis massive package there are a number of bills that have broad bipartisansupport," Inhofe spokesman Matt Dempsey said in an e-mail. "Thesebills, if considered separately from this massive omnibus package, may verywell be able to pass the Senate."

Unfortunately for Reid, the“Top Priority” for Everyone Else in His Caucus Looks to Be Passing the CR andGetting the Hell Home for the Holidays. Enviro Blotter (12/20) reports, “Harry Reid has introduceda massive public lands and water omnibus and maintains that the package is oneof his lame-duck priorities. But given Republican opposition – on top of analready crowded schedule – it is uncertain whether it will make it to the floorbefore Christmas. Reid pitched the package late last week as a bipartisancollection of non-controversial bills and claimed he had the votes to beat aRepublican filibuster – but GOP leaders were quick to counter with accusationsof political gamesmanship and said the window has closed for the year. "Iam perfectly willing to work with my colleagues to advance some of these billsindividually, but we need time to examine the changes that have been made sincethey emerged from the EPW committee, and we must consider their effect on thedeficit," said Jim Inhofe. House Republicans aren’t too pleased withReid’s effort either. "There will be plenty of time in the next Congressto individually consider the measures piled into this omnibus," DocHastings said in a statement Friday night, one in an ongoing string his officehas released since word of the package first surfaced."They shouldn’t bejammed through in the last days of a lame-duck session."

Do You Hear What I Hear? ASong, A Song, Low Beneath the Sea, that Sings of U.S. Pros-per-i-ty! Can’t HearIt? Seismic Work in Atlantic OCS Will Confirm It. Houston Chronicle (12/17) reports, “The Obama administrationtoday said it is taking the first steps to allowing new seismic research infederal waters along the Atlantic Coast that could help identify hidden pocketsof oil and gas — even though drilling in the area will be off limitsuntil at least 2017. The initial move is coming in the form of a requiredenvironmental impact statement that will assess the potential effects ofgeological and geophysical research on the outer continental shelf in the mid-and south-Atlantic. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation andEnforcement announced it had launched work on that programmatic environmentalimpact statement today. “This work will enable us to carefully and responsiblyidentify the resources that meet our nation’s energy needs while protecting theAtlantic and its coastal communities,” said Michael Bromwich, the bureaudirector. “It is an important part of our comprehensive approach to energydevelopment that relates to oil and gas, as well as offshore wind.” Thedecision keeps the country on a path to eventually leasing federal Atlanticwaters for oil and gas development. But it won’t be happening any time soon,under a new five-year leasing plan being developed by the Obama administration.

Cape Wind’s Survived 10Years of Enviro Assault, and 10 Years of Gov’t Incompetence – Only OneProblem Left: The Energy It Generates Is Really Expensive.Associated Press (12/19) reports, “Cape Wind has outlasted adecade of government review, a slew of court brawls and fierce opposition frommariners, fishermen, Indian tribes and Kennedys just to win the right to sellits wind-fueled electricity. Now, all it needs are customers. Last month, thenation’s first offshore wind farm nailed down its first buyer when theMassachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a deal that sees CapeWind selling half its power to National Grid, the state’s largest electricutility. But the other half of the Cape Wind project’s electricity remainsavailable with no obvious takers, raising the possibility of a smaller project withpricier power. The top prospect for Cape Wind is the state’s second-largestelectric utility, NStar. But NStar is uninterested and says it can find cheaperrenewable power elsewhere. "It’s not that we’re for or against Cape Windat all," said NStar spokeswoman Caroline Allen. "We just want to makesure that we are promoting renewables in the region … but also being mindfulof costs for our customers." Price is always an issue with offshore wind,which costs more partly because it’s expensive to build and maintain massiveturbines at sea. The 468-megawatt Cape Wind, which is expected to produceenough power for 200,000 homes in average winds, is estimated to cost at least$2 billion to construct.

Speaking of Big Pinwheel:Must Read Editorial in WSJ Takes AWEA Annual Report at Its Word –Highlights Failure of Wind in 2010 to Deliver on Its Promises. Wall Street Journal (12/20) editorializes, “Ethanol isn’t the onlyheavily subsidized energy source that won a multibillion dollar jackpot in lastweek’s tax deal. The other big winner was the wind industry, which received aone year extension of a $3 billion grant program for renewable energy projects.Despite more than $30 billion in subsidies for "clean energy" in the2009 stimulus bill, Big Wind still can’t make it in the marketplace. DeniseBode, AWEA’s CEO, had warned that without last week’s extension of the federal1603 investment credit, the outlook for the wind industry would be"flatline or down." Some 20,000 wind energy jobs, about one-quarterof the industry’s total, could have been lost, the wind lobby concedes. Formost industries that would be an admission of failure, but in Washington this kindof forecast is used to justify more subsidies. But what have these subsidiesbought taxpayers? According to AWEA, in the first half of 2010 wind powerinstallations "dropped by 57% and 71% from 2008 and 2009 levels." Inthe third quarter, the industry says it "added just 395 megawatts (MW) ofwind-powered electric generating capacity," making it the lowest quartersince 2007. New wind installations are down 72% from last year to their lowestlevel since 2006. And this is supposed to be the miracle electricity source ofthe future? The coal industry, which Mr. Obama’s Environmental ProtectionAgency and Interior Department have done everything possible to curtail, addedalmost three times more to the nation’s electric power capacity in the firstnine months of 2010 (39%) than did wind (14%), according to the U.S. EnergyInformation Administration.

With Death of RockefellerAmdt, Last Hurdle for EPA Carbon Regs Appear to Be Removed – And AsUsual, J-Rock Doesn’t Seem Too Concerned About It.The Hill (12/19) reports, “Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) believes thenew Congress will be “much more likely” to approve his legislation that wouldhalt looming Environmental Protection Agency climate change rules. Rockefellerwants to delay rules – which will begin phasing-in next month – tocurb emissions from power plants, refineries and other industrial plants, but nevergot a vote on his measure this year. “The House will be that way and the Senatewill be more inclined to be that way,” Rockefeller told The Hill in the CapitolSaturday, a reference to gains by GOP lawmakers hostile to climate rules.Rockefeller plans to immediately reintroduce the bill when the new Congressstarts, he said. Ascendant House Republicans are also vowing to block EPAclimate rules and other pollution regulations they call “job-killing.”Rockefeller, however, said he’s concerned about overreach, noting he supportsemissions standards for vehicles. “The thing I have to look at is to make surethat it doesn’t go too far,” he said. “I don’t think you get rid of EPA. I justdon’t know what the Tea Party-types are going to do, but I know they are goingto try and abolish a lot of agencies.”

U.S. Trial Lawyers PushingCase Against Chevron Basically Fired by Ecuadorian Government for Fraud –Now It’s Patton Boggs’ Turn to Line Up at the Trough. Wall Street Journal (12/18) reports, “Court documents filed infederal court in Philadelphia show the rift began in 2009, when Mr. Kohn andMr. Donziger feuded over control of the case. In November 2009, Mr. Kohn wrotea letter to the plaintiffs’ Ecuador-based legal team arguing that they shouldseek an immediate settlement of about $1 billion, far less than the $27 billionthat a court-appointed expert said Chevron should pay. The plaintiffs rejectedthe idea of a settlement, saying that seeking a deal would demonstrateweakness, according to a letter from the Ecuadorian attorneys to Mr. Kohn thatwas reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. In response, Mr. Kohn cut off furtherfunding, and in July, the plaintiffs formally terminated its dealings with Mr.Kohn. Mr. Kohn’s attorney, Jim Rohn, said his client had become increasinglyuncomfortable with Mr. Donziger’s handling of the case. He said Mr. Kohn leftthe case before Chevron’s fraud accusations became public. Chevron, meanwhile,zeroed in on Mr. Donziger, accusing him and his team of improperly influencingthe work of Richard Cabrera, the Ecuadorian expert who came up with the $27billion price tag. Mr. Cabrera has previously defended his work.

“Game Theorist” RunsSophisticated Modeling Program to Predict Whether Climate Conferences WillYield Success – You Won’t Believe It: His Computer Says They Failed.ClimateWire(12/20, subs. req’d) reports, “A modestly successful outcome from the latestround of international climate change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, hasproponents breathing a huge sigh of relief. After last year’s raucous sessionin Copenhagen, Denmark, most governments and activists were put on thedefensive to prove that multilateral action on global warming was evenpossible. They now feel vindicated. But even as optimism strengthens ahead ofthe next year’s major conference in South Africa, one famous prognosticatorsays it’s still more likely that we’ll see a repeat of Copenhagen’s performancetoward the end of 2011. Last year, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, a New YorkUniversity professor and partner in a Manhattan consultancy, famously predictedthe flat outcome at Copenhagen in an article he penned for Foreign Policymagazine, one month before that conference began. Confidence in the computermodel he designed that led to that conclusion informs his views on where thetalks are headed next: Namely, multilateral negotiations will not fix the climatechange problem, regardless of what U.N. officials and others claim. "It’sdepressing, it is what it is, but unfortunately it was right," Bueno deMesquita said in an interview. "We got nothing out of Copenhagen."

“Statoil finds more oil in Brazil,” ReadHeadlines out of Oslo and Rio; We of Course have a Permitorium, so Don’t Expectto Read This in US Papers Anytime Soon. UPI (12/17) reports, “Norwegian energy company Statoil announcedthat it struck oil at a shallow-water basin about 90 miles from the Braziliancoastline. Statoil said it encountered an oil reservoir that was about 230 feetthick in the Espirito Santo Basin off the coast of Brazil. Analysis indicatesthe prospect contains medium crude oil. "We are very pleased to havestruck oil here and the result will have an important bearing on our decisionregarding further exploration activity in this area," Tim Dodson,Statoil’s vice president of international exploration, said in a statement. Thecompany said it plans to operate three exploration wells in Brazil next year.Statoil formed a consortium during the summer with Chinese conglomerate SinochemGroup to develop Brazil’s offshore Peregrino field in order to start productionin early 2011. That field is about 50 miles offshore in the oil-rich CamposBasin in 325 feet of water. Statoil estimates the field holds at least 300million barrels of oil.”

Interior Announces 10,000 Page SolarEnergy Plan, Says They’ll be “Quite a bit of Incentive for the Companies.”Million Dollar Question? Do Consumers Want to Pay for this ExpensiveElectricity? Washington Post (12/17) reports, “The Obamaadministration issued proposed guidelines Thursday for solar development onpublic lands in the West, a move that could speed renewable-energy projectsthat have been mired in environmental controversy. The detailed analysis, knownas Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, identifies 24"solar energy zones" in six states that Interior Secretary KenSalazar said would be most suited "for environmentally sound,utility-scale solar energy production. " "We think it provides acommon-sense and flexible framework through which to grow our nation’srenewable energy economy," Salazar told reporters in a conference call.Under the 10,000-page plan, which is now subject to public comment for 90 days,developers would have a higher level of confidence that they could receivefederal permits establishing solar ventures in specific areas in statesincluding Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah."There’ll be quite a bit of incentive for the companies to focus ondevelopment" in the zones, said the bureau’s director, Bob Abbey, addingthat he and his colleagues have tried to identify areas that are less prone toconflicts over environmental concerns, such as harm to endangered species ordrains on local water supplies." NOTE: IER blogs on Salazar’s Renewed Commitment to Unreliable Energy.

Come Hell or High Water, W.Va. Senatorwill Force Vote EPA Carbon Criminalization Regs, Looks for Two Year Delay. Politico (12/17) reports, “Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is pressingforward on his drive to vote this month on his plan to delay Obamaadministration climate regulations for two years, threatening to go directly tothe Senate floor and force a vote to include it in a catch-all spending bill.Rockefeller has told Senate leadership “that he will insist on a vote” on hismeasure to block the Environmental Protection Agency global warming rules setto take effect next month. “If left with no other option, Senator Rockefellerwill seek to suspend the rules on the Omnibus Appropriations bill to bring uphis legislation,” his office said in a statement. Such a maneuver would require67 votes, which he is unlikely to get. A POLITICO analysis shows at least 56senators would likely support Rockefeller’s amendment. Rockefeller has beentrying for months to get Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to schedulea vote on his amendment. The West Virginia Democrat has said he would hold Reidto a promise he gave Rockefeller to hold a vote this year. "The time hascome for us to make a decision on the energy future of our country,"Rockefeller said in a prepared statement. "While there are still ongoingdiscussions about how Congress should proceed, I want to make it clear that Iintend to get a vote this year on my EPA-suspension legislation. I know thereis bipartisan support for this legislation, and if necessary, I will seek tosuspend the rules and bring this up for a vote. This is too important for us todelay any further."

Who’s In, Who’s Out? Rent-Seeking, WallStreet Fat Cats that Lobbied for Cap-and-Raid Scratching Their Heads on What todo Next. Politico (12/17) reports, “Energy-themed tradegroups can measure their level of influence with the next Congress to somedegree by the amount of work they did over the past two years to pass globalwarming legislation. Some lobby shops actively supported the Obamaadministration and its Democratic allies on Capitol Hill, sensing a goldenopportunity to reshape the nation’s energy policy. Others played along,figuring it made sense to be at the bargaining table to shape a cap-and-tradebill as best they could. But now that the proposal is dead, groups like theAmerican Wind Energy Association and Solar Energy Industries Association mustdeal with the awkwardness of trying to work with the same Republicans whoopposed their efforts to put a lid on greenhouse gases. Uncomfortable days mayalso be ahead for the Edison Electric Institute, the trade group forinvestor-owned utilities that was at the center of negotiations on theHouse-passed climate bill. An electric utility industry lobbyist saidindividual companies would be smart to rely on their own Capitol Hill contactsrather than approach members through the trade group. But EEI’s stock might beat its lowest with House Republican leaders who have clear memories of thetrade association’s decision to use Brian Wolff, a former top political adviserto House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), as its chief message and lobbying manon climate change. Wolff has also worked part time for Democratic congressionalcandidates.“I don’t think it’s as bad as it may seem for EEI, but it’s prettydamn bad for certainly the foreseeable future,” said a former House GOP stafferwho works on energy issues.”

Old News, But Nontheless News. Upton NamesChairs/Vice-Chairs, Next Question? Sub. Comm. Rosters and Staff. The Hill (12/16) reports, “The structure ofthe powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee under GOP rule has come intofocus. The plan includes cleaving the Energy and Environment Subcommittee intotwo separate panels, incoming full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.)announced Thursday. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) will be chairman of the Energyand Power Subcommittee, with Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) selected as vicechairman. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), meanwhile, will be chairman of the newEnvironment and Economy Subcommittee, with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) in the vicechairman’s role. Upton told reporters Thursday the Energy and PowerSubcommittee will oversee the Clean Air Act, a key fact because Upton and otherRepublicans plan to attack EPA initiatives to regulate greenhouse gases underthe statute. Other EPA matters will fall under the Environment and Economypanel, Upton said. Elsewhere, as expected, Upton has named former committeechairman and ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) as “chairman emeritus” —a position that includes two staff members and a seat on each of the sixsubcommittees, Upton said.”

BetterLate than Never: Sens. Bayh and Bond Float Plan to Promote Domestic Policy/Planon Rare-Earths. E&E News (subs req’d, 12/17) reports, “Tworetiring Midwestern senators this week floated bipartisan legislation thatwould promote development of a domestic rare-earth minerals industry. Sens.Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) introduced S. 4031 Wednesday to buildup a domestic rare-earth minerals supply chain. Rare earths, a group of 17elements critical to the clean energy sector, are primarily sourced from Chinadespite vast domestic reserves. And China has locked up a near monopoly onprocessing. The materials are used in wind turbines, energy-efficient lightbulbs, catalytic converters for diesel engines and hybrid car components, amongother applications. Bayh and Bond’s measure would set up an interagency taskforce to study rare earths, expand an existing federal loan guarantee programto include the companies developing the technologies used to produce rareearths, establish an Energy Department research and development program tostudy rare earths and authorize $50 million to establish domestic rare-earthprocessing and magnet manufacturing facilities. The measure expands onlegislation that passed in the House earlier this fall (H.R. 6160) and onlegislation previously introduced in the Senate by Sen. Lisa Murkowski(R-Alaska) (S. 3521). "Without a secure, domestic supply of rare earthmetals, our country is forced to rely on China for these materials, anunacceptable situation that jeopardizes our economy, our energy supply and ournational security interests," Bayh said this summer when he sent a letterto Energy Secretary Steven Chu calling for an expansion of the loan guaranteeprogram to include rare earths.”

SenateApprops Bill Zeros Out Yucca, But Jacks Loan Guarantees. That Make Sense? E&ENews (subs req’d, 12/15)reports, “Funding for the Energy Department in an omnibus appropriations billintroduced yesterday by Senate Democrats largely stays level with earlierversions, but it does boost funding for the agency’s nuclear and fossil energyloan guarantee programs and zeroes out appropriations for the nuclearrepository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The measure authorizes $8 billion in loanguarantee authority for advanced nuclear reactor projects, giving DOE a totalof $26 billion it may use to back up prospective reactor projects. DOE hasalready used $8 billion of that for a conditional loan guarantee to thepartners building a new reactor at Southern’s Vogtle reactor in Georgia. TheSenate bill goes further than the House long-term continuing resolution (CR),which provided $7 billion in nuclear loan guarantees, $3 billion in fossilenergy and $300 million for renewable energy credit subsidies. The House lastweek passed a CR to fund the government through September 2011. The bill alsofollows through on a decision by Obama this year to zero out funding for theDOE nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, as the White House establisheda "blue ribbon commission" to find an alternative waste solution. DOEhas made a motion to withdraw the license application for the project, whichhas been submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NRC and federal courtsare reviewing whether DOE has the authority to do so.

ObamaAdmin. Comes out in Support of Marcellus Development in Del. River Basin; Anti-EnergyCrowd, Buffalo Mo Aren’t Happy.Greenwire/New York Times (12/14) reports, “The Obama administrationsupports a full study of the effects of gas drilling in the watershed thatprovides drinking water for Philadelphia and New York City, but it doesn’t wantto wait until it’s finished for drilling to begin. Gen. Peter "Duke"DeLuca of the Army Corps of Engineers outlined the position in a letter (pdf)written to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and released today. The letter offersthe first indication of the administration’s position on gas drilling in theNortheast since the day after the Nov. 2 midterm election when President Obamahighlighted gas drilling as a potential area of common ground with Republicans.DeLuca, the Army Corps’ North Atlantic division engineer, is the federalrepresentative on the Delaware River Basin Commission, which is developingregulations for gas drilling in eastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York.Hinchey and local environmentalists want the commission to keep its drillingmoratorium until its staff does a "cumulative impacts" study, aprocess that could take years. Drilling supporters want the commission to moveahead as quickly as possible and dislike that the commission has blockeddrilling in Pennsylvania while drilling continues rapidly in the rest of thestate.”

You’veHeard of the Offshore Permitorium and Moratorium, Right? Now Meet the BLMoratorium;Records Show 79 Percent Drop in Acreage Offered for Energy Development outWest.Washington Examiner (12/14) reports, “A new analysis ofgovernment data by the Western Energy Alliance shows a 79 percent drop in thenumber of energy development leases offered by the federal government on publiclands in the Rocky Mountain region states of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, NorthDakota, New Mexico and Utah. The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of LandManagement, which oversees the activities of energy firms seeking to find anddevelop oil and natural gas under public lands, has issued only 531 new leasesin 2010, compared to 2,499 in 2005, according to WEA. The Wyoming BusinessReport notes that since 2008 90 percent of the leases awarded by BLM have beenprotested. Such protests are usually filed by Big Green groups like the NaturalResources Defense Fund, Earth Justice, and Wilderness Society. The data alsoshow that under President Obama BLM has issued 76 percent fewer leases than wasthe case during the first two years of the Clinton administration and 71percent fewer than during the first two years of the second Bushadministration. Federal revenues from these leases dropped from more than $189million in 2005 to $101 million in 2010, a 46 percent decrease, according toWEA.”

OmnibusApprops Bill Jacks Fees, Adds Red Tape to Offshore Energy Development. Questionfor the Lawyers: Is the Permit Review Change from 30 to 90 days Legal?E&ENews (subs req’d, 12/15)reports, “The $32.2 billion bill would flatline the agencies’ funding at fiscal2010 levels, but increased inspection fees for offshore drilling would raise anadditional $50 million for Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,Regulation and Enforcement — enough to double the outer continental shelf oiland gas inspection work force. The omnibus bill also contains a controversialprovision from a House-passed spending measure last week to triple the amountof time Interior is allowed to approve offshore drilling proposals. The measure– extending drilling permit reviews from 30 days to 90 days — is backed bythe Obama administration and key Senate Democrats as a way to allow fuller reviewsof offshore drilling in the wake of the BP spill. "Review of explorationplans should not be a perfunctory, rubber-stamp activity," Bill Wicker,spokesman for Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman(D-N.M.) said this week. "These plans are complicated, they’re complex andthey’re critical." But the proposal has also drawn fire from severalSenate Republicans and some coastal state lawmakers who contend that it woulddelay domestic energy production and create additional opportunities forlawsuits both from industry and environmental groups.”

Sen.Feinstein Opposes Coal, Oil and Gas Production. Now Add Solar to the List;Wonder How She Powers her Home, Fuels her Car?Politico’sMorning Environmentalist(12/15) reports, “The budget omnibus includes a rider from Dianne Feinsteinthat would restrict solar development in the Mojave Desert. The provision– tucked 808 pages into the bill – prohibits Interior from usingfunds to authorize energy development on a quarter-million acres of federalland in the Mojave. Feinstein says the lands were donated for conservation byprivate owners and should not be opened to solar power plants. Feinstein took abigger bite at that apple earlier this year with legislation that would haveblocked solar development on nearly 1 million Mojave acres. That bill alsoincluded provisions to expedite solar development elsewhere in the Mojave, butit stalled in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee after it was panned byLisa Murkowski and got only tepid support from Interior and the DefenseDepartment.”

New MexicoCap-and-Raid Proposal Under Fire. Chief Concern? You Guessed it, IncreasedCosts. Associated Press(12/14) reports, “New Mexico’s largest electric utility filed a notice ofappeal Tuesday to the state’s new cap-and-trade program. Public Service Companyof New Mexico is seeking to appeal a plan to establish what state officialscall the most comprehensive greenhouse gas pollution reduction regulations inthe nation. The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board narrowly approvedthe program last month. Utilityspokesman Don Brown said the program imposes costs on New Mexico other statesdon’t have. "At such a vulnerable economic time, it would put New Mexicoat a disadvantage in competing for jobs," he said. In addition, PNM doesnot believe the Environmental Improvement Board has the authority to regulategreenhouse gas emissions, Brown said. The program would force coal-fired powerplants, refineries, natural gas compressor stations and other facilities thatpump out a certain level of carbon dioxide each year to reduce those emissionsby 2 percent annually starting in 2012. Supporters of the cap-and-trade programsay it’s the first step for New Mexico to get a handle on the pollution blamedfor global warming. Critics, however, contend the regulations will lead tohigher electricity costs and an exodus of businesses and jobs to surroundingstates.”

The Art ofa Hit Piece: Lead with a Positive, Then Go to Josh Fox-Like Claims and BigGreen Inc., to fill Out a 1,500 Word Hatchet Job on Shale Gas. USA Today (12/14) reports, “Residents here rejoiced two years ago whengas companies poked into a mammoth natural gas deposit 2 miles under theirhomes, sparking a modern-day gold rush. The companies offered residents tens ofthousands of dollars an acre to drill on their land, enriching some folksovernight in this rural corner of northwestern Louisiana. Then cows started todie. Methane seeped into the drinking water. Homes were evacuated when naturalgas escaped uncontrollably from a wellhead. Today, many residents and localofficials still praise the bounty reaped from the Haynesville Shale, one of theworld’s largest natural gas deposits, spread under Louisiana, Arkansas andeastern Texas. An estimated 250 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is trappedthere — enough to power the United States for more than a decade, saysKevin McCotter, a senior director with Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake EnergyCorp., the largest gas producer in the area. The shale has delivered a cleanenergy source while enriching residents, he says. Further testing andmonitoring should be done on the technique, which also is exempt from sectionsof the Clean Water Act and other federal environmental laws, says Josh Fox, afilmmaker whose documentary film, Gasland, profiles families across the USAimpacted by natural gas drilling. The film, released this year, shows residentssetting the water coming out of their faucets on fire because of flammablemethane gas in the water. "This process has never been investigated,"Fox says. "We don’t put out drugs in the market without testing themfirst."

EPA isConsidering New Regulations on Coal-Fired Generation that will Cost Upwards of$80 Billion. Who Pays? Silly Question, You, the Consumer. Merry Christmas toyou too, Ms. Jackson.Reuters (12/13) reports, “U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyregulations could cost the industry more than $80 billion and force up to70,000 megawatts of coal-fired power plants to retire over the next severalyears, investment bank FBR Capital Markets (FBCM.O: Quote) said in a researchreport Monday. Before even considering the potential effect of possiblegovernment efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to combat global warming,the report forecast coal retirements would likely reach 45,000 MW, including12,000 MW already announced.FBR said utilities would likely install emissionscontrol equipment in larger coal plants, representing about 60,000 MW ofcapacity, and replace smaller units with natural gas-fired combined cycle gasturbines. While the EPA regulations will cost billions, regulated utilities arepoised to benefit from the stricter rules. Regardlessof whether regulated utilities or merchant energy companies install the emissionsupgrades or build new power plants, consumers will bear the ultimate cost.

Mr.President, China is Not “Winning” the Renewable Energy Race, They’re Winningthe Energy Race – Coal Imports to Rise 78% Next Year.Bloomberg (12/14) reports, “China and India may increase imports of coalby 78 percent to 337 million metric tons next year, further driving up pricesfrom the highest in two years and diverting supplies from Europe to Asia. Chinamay buy 233 million tons more of the fuel than it exports next year, up fromnet imports of 143 million in 2010, Citigroup Inc. said in a Nov. 29 report.India faces a shortfall of 104 million tons in the 12 months ending March 2012,mjunction Services Ltd., a Kolkata-based commodity trader, said in a note onDec. 6, citing Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal. Asia’s two fastest-growingmajor economies are burning more of the fuel as economic expansion raisesdemand for electricity. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that China’sgross domestic product will next year expand 9.6 percent and India 8.4 percent.China added about 51 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity last year, more than halfthe total capacity of the U.K., according to data from Daiwa Capital Marketsand the U.S. Energy Department. China’s appetite for the commodity sentbenchmark domestic prices at the port of Qinhuangdao to a two-year high of $129a ton for the week ended Nov. 26, according to data from IHS McCloskey, aPetersfield, U.K.-based researcher. China will need 2 billion tons of coalover the next 10 years to fuel the country’s industrial development, the ChinaSecurities Journal reported today, citing Dai Yande, deputy head of China’sEnergy Research Institute.”

Over orUnder? Goldman Predicts $100 Oil in Six Months; Pipeline Takes the Under.Bloomberg (12/14) reports, “A drop in OPEC spare production capacitywill signal a “second stage” in the oil market’s recovery, lifting crude higherthan $100 a barrel by the second half of 2011, according to Goldman Sachs GroupInc. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will supply more oil,reducing its spare capacity, as global inventory levels “normalize” from anoverhang cause by the recession, the bank said in its 2011 commodities outlookdated yesterday. The 12-member group, which pumps about 40 percent of theworld’s crude, said at a Dec. 11 meeting it will maintain production targets atlevels agreed in December 2008. “Inventories have declined rapidly in recentmonths as global demand growth has accelerated to one of the highest levels onrecord,” Goldman analysts led by London-based Jeffrey Currie said in thereport. “We expect global demand growth to remain strong at over 2 millionbarrels a day.” Goldman Sachs, in yesterday’s report, predicted West TexasIntermediate crude, the benchmark grade traded in New York, will rise to $89 abarrel within three months, $100 within six months and $105 within a year. Oillast traded above $100 in October 2008 as commodities and equities fellfollowing the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.”

Enviro’sPulling out all Stops to Derail Keystone Pipeline Project; Will Create too ManyJobs, Provide Affordable, Reliable Energy for America –They’re AgainstBoth. E&E News (subs req’d, 12/14) reports, Environmentalgroups fighting a $7 billion U.S.-Canada oil pipeline yesterday charged thatSecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ties to a former adviser who nowserves as a top lobbyist for the company behind the project leave her unable toimpartially evaluate the proposal. Citing freedom-of-information law, threeconservation groups pressing the State Department to reject the 1,900-mileKeystone XL pipeline sought records of any contact between Paul Elliott,government relations director for project sponsor TransCanada Corp., anddepartment officials evaluating the company’s request for federal approval. "TransCanadaclearly sees an opportunity to get this dangerous pipeline approved throughSecretary Clinton’s relationship with Paul Elliott," said Friends of theEarth campaigner Alex Moore in a statement. Corporate Ethics International andthe Center for International Environmental Law also joined the nonprofit on theinformation request. The battle over Keystone XL, which would nearly doubleU.S. imports of crude from the Canadian oil sands, began heating up this fallafter Clinton publicly said she was "inclined to" sign off on thepipeline despite fierce opposition from environmentalists. But while moreliberal Democrats align with environmental advocates in decrying the projectedgreenhouse gas footprint of fuel from Canadian oil sands, others in Clinton’sparty view Keystone XL as a much-needed solution to the continued need for oilimports.

SenatorGraham, Still Recovering from the Gas Tax Defeat, Now Pushing Mandate toIncrease Electricity Rates, Guarantee Market Share for Expensive Power. E&ENews (subs req’d, 12/14)reports, “As the Senate slogs through the final days of this session, Democratsfeel great frustration over the failure to pass major energy legislation –leaving them open to consider backing a once-balked-at Republican proposal fora clean energy standard early next year. "Boy, it will be a major disappointmentif this Congress shuts down at the end of this year without having doneanything on energy, anything of consequence," retiring Sen. Byron Dorgan(D-N.D.) said earlier this month. Butchampions of energy legislation are not licking their wounds. Instead, they arelooking toward next year. And a one-time, long-shot Republican idea is gainingsteam among both Democrats and Republicans. The proposal for a clean energystandard, which has been batted around for years and introduced most recentlyby Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), has created a buzz on and off Capitol Hill inrecent weeks. Graham’s measure has been offered as an alternative to Bingamanand Brownback’s RES, which would require utilities to generate 15 percent oftheir electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2021. Grahamand the CES measure’s other supporters want to see nuclear energy and"clean coal" included in the standard. Democratic Sen. Tom Carper(Del.) has also supported the idea of a broader mandate. The measure got asignificant boost last week when Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he was opento discussing the idea and urged Congress to seriously "think about"it. Yesterday, Alaska Democrat Mark Begich said he, too, believes the measurehas merit.”

Ain’t Easy Being Green:Obama White House Buffeted by Special Interest Enviros Apoplectic over EPA’sReversal on Boiler MACT Rule – Frank O’Donnell’s Out for Blood.Politico (12/11) reports, “Greens and public health advocates fear theWhite House is losing its backbone when it comes to defending its environmentalpolicies — at the worst possible time. EPA this week delayed two majorclean air regulations aimed at curbing ozone and toxic air pollution fromindustrial boilers. The Obama administration denies that politics are in play,but that appearance is hard to avoid as House Republicans prepare to use theirmajority to try and rollback EPA standards. The delays have garnered nationalattention, including a front page story of Friday’s New York Times — andsent shockwaves through the environmental and public health communities. Now,activists who heralded Obama’s aggressive environmental policies are preparingto circle their wagons around other rules they say may be vulnerable. “Giventhe events of this week, environmental regulators are on high alert for signsof future attempts to delay or interfere with the roll-out of importantregulatory health protections,” said Bill Becker, of the National Associationof Clean Air Agencies. Next up are measures to slash soot, smog and mercuryfrom power plants and a national air-quality standard for fine particlepollution. The delayed air rules “should be a clarion call to arms that we’re goingto need to step up or we’re just going to get rolled," said FrankO’Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch.

Mean Streaks of Paterson:NY Gov Takes One Step Forward By Vetoing Ridiculous Moratorium on HF –Then Signs Exec. Order Basically Instituting the Same Damn Thing. NY Times (12/11) reports, “Industry representatives complained thatsuch a sweeping moratorium would outlaw virtually all drilling in New York,including in its portion of the Marcellus shale, a vast and deep deposit ofnatural gas stretching under several states. Mr. Paterson’s veto, and thesubsequent executive order, appeared aimed at distinguishing between verticalwells and newer “horizontal drilling” techniques, in which gas drillers plumbthe underground shale seams laterally. The governor’s order restricts permitsfor “high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing.” Most modern wells that use frackingare, in fact, horizontal wells, but the industry welcomed the governor’s vetoas staking out middle ground. “We are very pleased that the governor saw thebill for what it was – a flawed piece of legislation replete withunintended and dire consequences for the people and businesses in our industry.” said Brad Gill, the executive director of the Independent Oil & GasAssociation of New York, in a statement. “Our members are aware of theconsiderable pressure put upon lawmakers and the governor to approve thisbill,” he added. “We’re hopeful that the governor’s veto today will set thestage for a more reasoned and rational public discussion about these issuesgoing forward.”

Like Oil at $90 a Barrel?Good: OPEC Says It’ll Stay There for a While — And, Owing to OffshorePermitorium in the Gulf, US No Longer in a Position to Do Anything About It.Houston Chronicle (12/11) reports, “OPEC ministers decidedSaturday to keep oil output at current levels, citing ample inventories amidpersisting global economic uncertainty and a price of just under $90 a barrel.The 12-member cartel said after an unusually short meeting that it based itsdecision on projections showing demand for crude would grow more slowly in 2011than this year. It’s statement also cited the "challenging risks to thefragile global economic recovery" including "fears of a secondbanking crisis in Europe." The world’s major industrialized nationscontinue to face "lower industrial output, lagging private consumption aswell as persistently high unemployment," the ministers added. "Themarket is in balance and is stable," Oil minister Ali Naimi of SaudiArabia, OPEC’s biggest producer, told reporters. "The fundamentals aregood." Suffering a cold, he left quickly after the closed-door meeting,which lasted less than two hours. OPEC’s next scheduled gathering is June 2 inVienna, its home. "OPEC is always ready to meet when there is importantchange in the market," he said. There was much discussion about whetheroil would soon broach the psychological price barrier of $100 — or evenclimb nearer its 2008 historic peak of $147 a barrel. Venezuela’s minister,Rafael Ramirez, said he thought such a price was "proper" consideringhow much producers invest in removing crude from the ground.

No Shame: Justice Dept.Clears Fmr. Interior Secretary of Any Wrongdoing in Oil Shale Case – ButNot Even the Facts Prevent Nick Rahall from Taking One Last Shot on His WayOut. Politico (12/10) reports, “The Justice Department has declined to filecharges against former Interior Secretary Gale Norton in connection with oilshale bids by Royal Dutch Shell. At issue are valuable oil shale leases thatShell won from Interior after Norton left the George W. Bush administration inMarch 2006 but before she took a job as a lawyer with the oil giant thatDecember. Kendall referred to the report to the Justice Department, whichdeclined to file charges. “We found that Norton was very interested in the[Research, Development and Demonstration] program during her tenure assecretary, but we did not find evidence to conclusively determine that Nortonviolated conflict-of-interest laws, either pre- or post-employment, withShell,” Acting Interior Department Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote in aletter accompanying a report obtained by POLITICO. But despite the lack offederal charges, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall(D-W.Va.) delivered a scathing verdict. “It sounds like Secretary Norton wasearning her salary from Shell even before they put her on the payroll,” Rahallsaid in a statement.

Green Is Universal: GeneralElectric, Owner of NBC and Windmills (Which Is Why You See Lots About theLatter on the Former) Makes Major New Play on Offshore Oil and Gas.Reuters (12/13) reports, “General Electric Co has agreed to buyBritish oil drilling pipe-maker Wellstream Holdings Plc for 800 million pounds($1.3 billion), as GE continues its push into the offshore oil servicesindustry. The deal is the latest in a series of GE buys in the oil servicessector in recent years and shows that, despite the BP oil spill in the Gulf ofMexico this summer, the industry expects deep water drilling to continue apace.The acquisition would also give GE a strong footing in Brazil, where Wellstreamhas a manufacturing facility. Brazil has made a series of multi-billion barrelsoil discoveries in recent years in very deep water — traditionally high costfor oil producers and high opportunity for equipment makers — and Brasiliaencourages the use of locally produced materials. GE and Wellstream said in ajoint statement on Monday that GE would pay Wellstream investors 780 pence incash plus a special dividend of 6p, per Wellstream share, up from a bid of 750 pence/sharetabled in September that Wellstream rebuffed. Wellstream is one of only threemain manufacturers of flexibles "riser" pipes, which connect drillingrigs to well-heads on the sea floor.

Live Free or Walk: Folks Upin New Hampshire Not Exactly Sold on Electric Cars – For Starters:Because the Only Ones that Seem to Work Actually Run on Gasoline. David Brooks writes (12/13) in the Nashua (N.H.) Telegraph, “The “chicken and egg” issue of cars andcharging stations is one of the big obstacles facing the electric-vehicleindustry – since few people will buy battery-powered cars if there’snowhere except home to plug them in, and few companies will pay to installcharging stations if no one has an electric car. But it will never be tackledif no one plunges in. Wheego is an unusual car company. The body and chassisare made by Shuanghuan, a Chinese firm that bases it on a gas-powered model.Enxing hopes to have several Wheego dealerships throughout New Englandeventually, so perhaps we’ll see him again. The lack of electricity “gasstations” explains why GM put a gasoline-powered engine in the Volt. It canrecharge the motor and extend the car’s range beyond the inherent limits ofbatteries, which hover over the Leaf and Wheego. The Volt internal combustionengine is not connected to the drivetrain, which is entirely powered by theelectric motor. In theory, you could drive a Volt all year and never put a dropof gas in it, as long as you recharge it often enough, and it’s not reallycorrect to call the Volt a “plug-in hybrid.” But it does mean that the Voltisn’t a true “electric-only” car like the Leaf or Wheego. You can’t entirelythumb your nose at OPEC in it.

I Need a Job: OutgoingIdaho Democrat Says He REALLY Wishes He Had Voted for Cap-and-Raid, SinceClimate Change Represents “Greatest Ecological Threat” Ever.E&E News(12/13, subs. req’d) reports, “Despite a roller coaster two years, Rep. WaltMinnick (D-Idaho) says being in the 111th Congress was a better experience thanthe last time he worked in Washington, serving in President Nixon’sWatergate-besieged White House. Though serving in the 111th Congress wasbetter, that is not to say Minnick does not draw parallels between Watergateand this Democratic Congress, especially when it comes to energy andenvironmental policy. "Very little went well in energy and theenvironment," the 68-year-old representative said in an interview lastweek. "That was an area where we had a particularly tin ear and where thesolution to the biggest issue — global warming — proposed by the party …got transformed by its opposition from cap and trade to cap and tax and becamepolitically toxic almost every place in the country."Minnick calls thepolitical misjudgments that led to House passage of the "American CleanEnergy and Security Act of 2009" and the inability to then message thebill or have a fallback position "equally disastrous" to the way theNixon administration tried to message Watergate. The way the former timbercompany CEO sees it, the bill actually sent the country’s energy policybackward. "Not only did we fail to move the ball forward, the globalcommitment to doing something about what is the greatest ecological threat tohumanity since the emergence

Cave Men: New “Compromise”Senate Tax Package Includes Lots of Honey for Big Corn – Guess Ole’ BobDinneen’s Got More Juice Than We Thought.E&E News (12/10, subs. req’d) reports, “A renewableenergy grant program, ethanol tax credit and other energy tax credits would beextended one year in a compromise tax package announced by Senate MajorityLeader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late yesterday. Reid last night filed cloture on thecompromise package. The Senate will vote on whether to end debate on thepackage Monday afternoon. The package is still headlined by the extension ofexpiring income tax cuts for all tax brackets negotiated earlier this week bythe White House and Republicans but includes changes to the renewable energygrant program. Last-minute lobbying efforts paid off for lawmakers andalternative energy companies on the ethanol blend tax credit and especially forthe Treasury Department’s 1603 renewable energy grant-in-lieu-of-tax creditprogram. The 1603 program had been left on the cutting room floor after theWhite House and Republicans reached the income tax cut agreement. The billwould extend the 1603 program — originally passed as part of the stimulus bill– through 2011, according to a bill summary from Reid’s office. The extensionwould cost about $3 billion over 10 years, according to a Joint Committee onTaxation (JCT) score from yesterday afternoon being circulated among lobbyinggroups.

Enviros “Furious” overEPA’s Decision to Delay Completely Outlandish, Technically Unattainable BoilerRule – Professional Quote-Emailer Frank O’Donnell Absolutely Unhinged. NY Times (12/10) reports, “The Obama administration is retreating onlong-delayed environmental regulations — new rules governing smog andtoxic emissions from industrial boilers — as it adjusts to a changedpolitical dynamic in Washington with a more muscular Republican opposition. Environmental advocates are furious. They fear a similar delay on theapproaching start of one of the most far-reaching regulatory programs inAmerican environmental history, the effort to curb emissions of carbon dioxideand other greenhouse gases. “Obama has already signaled that in his quest forre-election he’s more than willing to turn against his base in order to make acompromise with his adversaries,” Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean AirWatch, an advocacy group, said in an e-mail, responding to the rules delay. Mr.O’Donnell said the administration was clearly “running scared” from theincoming Congress and said he suspected that it was willing to moderate itsstand on a variety of environmental regulations, including pending greenhousegas rules aimed at reducing the pollutants that contribute to global warming.

“Revolutions Do Not goBackward”: Former Secretary Official, Gov. of Penna. Sees HistoricalSignificance in Development of Natural Gas from Shale. The Oklahoman (12/9) reports, “Revolutions do not go backward.” Former U.S.Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge offered up that Abraham Lincoln quoteThursday as proof that Americans need to develop a sustained, coherent andforward-looking national energy policy. There isn’t one now, and time isrunning out to make it a reality, Ridge told his Chesapeake Energy Lectureaudience at the University of Tulsa’s Allen Chapman Activities Center. FormerCabinet official sees U.S. security in natural gas In fact, Ridge threw ineverything from the 16th president’s immortal words to “The Daily Show” hostJon Stewart while also interweaving his own “all in” conception of the Americanenergy future. “What we have is natural gas,” Ridge said. “It’s here, it’ssecure.” Now retired from public life, at least temporarily, Ridge has his owncompany and is a strategic adviser to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, whichoversees natural gas exploration and production in the deep reserves beneaththe Pennsylvania soil and neighboring areas of the Northeast. “I think it’stime we put America at the head of the global energy parade,” Ridge said.“That’s our mission; that’s not a mirage.”

Wet Our Beak: DelawareRiver Basin Commish More than Happy to Allow Folks Develop Resources fromMarcellus Shale – Just Need to Pay Millions of Dollars in Fees.NY Times/E&E News (12/9) reports, "DRBC wells will tie up moreworking capital than wells in other parts of the formation," said Book,managing director of the Washington-based consulting firm ClearView EnergyPartners, "making it more attractive to drill other places first." The amount of financial assurance has been a key sticking point in negotiationsabout the rules, and has been interpreted by some as an indicator of howwelcoming the regulators and the body’s member states will be to natural gasdevelopment in the Northeast. Tom Shepstone, a landowner and businessman inHonesdale, Pa., who supports drilling, said the operating requirements in therules are reasonable, but the commission is asserting itself too deeply intoland use. "It’s not practical, and it can be used by overzealousregulators or protestants to stop almost anything unless there is a betterdefinition," Shepstone said. One industry group says the regulations senda mixed message, indicating that the four states involved do want development,while making it financially difficult for it to occur. "Unfortunately,while a lot of the words in here sound good, a lot of the numbers sound like aswift kick to the stomach," said Chris Tucker, spokesman for Energy inDepth. "I’ve never seen bonding and fee requirements this high. They verywell might prove prohibitive."

The Real Scandal Out West: Sex and Drugs at MMSOffice In Denver? Nope: BLM Presiding over 79 Percent Drop in Leases Issuedover the Past Five Years in Region. Wyoming Business Report (12/9) reports, “Western Energy Alliancetoday announced the release of a compilation of government data related to oiland natural gas development on Western public lands. In Wyoming, the Bureau ofLand Management (BLM) issued 314 leases in FY2010, a 61 percent drop from the797 leases issued in FY2005, the data report. Since FY2008, 90 percent ofoffered parcels have been protested. Because this type of government data aredifficult to access, Western Energy Alliance has compiled the information tohelp policymakers, the media and the public identify trends in Western oil andgas development over time, a company release says. This new data resource showsa continued decrease in the use of public lands for domestic oil and naturalgas development, and a corresponding decline in revenue to federal and stategovernments. The BLM has overseen a 79 percent drop in leases issued over fiveyears in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Leasingrevenue dropped 46 percent over the same period, and overall onshore royaltieshave declined 33 percent over two years. "Western Energy Alliance remainsdedicated to providing timely and credible data to enable policymakers to makeinformed decisions on how to best manage our public lands," said SpencerKimball, manager of Government Affairs.

“New” Approach Offered atClimate Kleptocrat Conf. in Cancun: U.S. Businesses Pay Brazilian Enviros toProduce Reports on Deforestation – What Can Possibly Go Wrong There?Washington Post (12/10) reports, “In response to growingfrustration that the U.N. climate negotiations are not producing real-worldresults, individual nations, states and business are cobbling togetherpatchwork solutions to preserve forests, produce clean energy and scrubpollution from the air. Under this new approach, businesses in California willoffset their greenhouse gas emissions by funding tropical-forest preservationin Mexico and Brazil, Japan will help pay for nuclear power plants indeveloping nations, and South Korea will invest in promoting renewable energyat home. But the central question remains: Will a bottom-up network of ad hocarrangements and bilateral deals be enough to avert dangerous climate change?For years, international policymakers operated on the assumption that theywould develop a successor to the landmark 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the only legallybinding international accord to reduce greenhouse gases. They expected to agreeon a common path for cutting the world’s carbon output, dole out key nations’specific obligations and create a common market for trading greenhouseemissions. That vision has evaporated, replaced by a much looser web ofclimate-related efforts across the globe.

Can Someone Please Explainto Us Why U.S. Sen. Johanns Is Siding with Greenpeace, NRDC and the DamnedTides Foundation in Opposing Keystone Pipeline?E&E News(12/10, subs. req’d) reports, “Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) remains the strangestof bedfellows for the coalition of Democrats and environmental groups leaningon the State Department to more closely scrutinize the potential risks of theKeystone XL pipeline project. "All I’m asking," Johanns said, is thatSecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s team more closely examinealternative routes for Keystone XL that would limit the pipeline’s impact onhis state’s ecologically delicate Sandhills region. If the department declinesto conduct that extra environmental assessment, he added, they "couldnever make the argument, then, that they’re environmentally sensitive."But for Johanns, the issue of extra environmental review remains a simplequestion of finishing the job before construction starts. "If they’re notwilling" to look at alternative routes for Keystone XL, Johanns said ofthe State Department, "it would speak very loudly and clearly that theywere willing to sacrifice thoroughness." The department does notanticipate a final decision on the proposed pipeline until early next year,after it weighs in on the proposed extra environmental review, which is alsobacked by U.S. EPA.

Speaking of Keystone,Canadian Energy: You Thought the LCFS Only Sought to Target the Oil Sands,Right? Turns Out Oil Shale Gets the Boot Too – and CTL. ClimateWire(12/9, subs. req’d) reports, ‘More than 25 companies are working to developU.S. oil shale, which holds a fuel called kerogen that can be turned intokerosene, jet and diesel fuel and gasoline. The majority of the reserves sit ina swath of the West stretching from Colorado to Utah. Climate regulations suchas proposed low-carbon fuel standards pose additional risks for investors inboth fuels, Logan said. Section 526 of a 2007 federal energy bill forbidsfederal agencies from procuring alternative fuels unless their life-cyclegreenhouse gas emissions are equal to or less than those of conventional fuels."Unless the section is actually repealed, section 526 could limit themarket for oil shale and coal to liquid developers," Ceres said. Outsideof California, low-carbon fuel standards are furthest along in Oregon, Washingtonand New England, said Chris Tucker of the Consumer Energy Alliance. In theNortheast, governors from 11 states signed a memorandum of understanding lastyear to develop such a standard. A model rule is expected early next year thatwould have to be approved by state legislatures in the region, with a possibleenactment date of 2013.

She SaidIt: CEO of Big Wind Comes Clean on Taxpayer Handouts, “Without them, theIndustry Couldn’t Operate.”Politico (12/8) reports, “A pot of sweetenersin the form of tax extenders for pet energy industries could help ease thebitter pill that Democrats may have to swallow if they agree to the tax dealPresident Barack Obama and Republicans carved out. The expiring tax incentivesdesigned to boost ethanol and other energy industries might be enough toattract Democratic votes to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years. Part of the Baucus proposal wasa one-year extension of a 45-cent ethanol excise tax credit at 36 cents pergallon. This decrease in the subsidy for the mainly corn-based gasolineadditive is backed by House and Ways Means Democrats and the White House. Thetax totaled at least $5 billion this year and cutting the credit to 36 centsshould bring the annual cost down about $1 billion. Along with the possibledecrease in the ethanol credit, the White House also specifically cut out oftheir deal with Republicans $1.4 billion in federal grants that would boostwind, solar, geothermal and biomass projects. Denise Bode, CEO of the AmericanWind Energy Association, contends there is a misperception that theseincentives were born in the stimulus plan.“It’s a longtime business tax extender that was tweaked in orderto allow business in the renewable sector to continue to operate,” Bode saidWednesday. “So it’s not an original stimulus package program.”

1. That’s the Number of Deepwater PermitApplications Pending Before Interior Dept. So What’s Obama Admin. AnnounceYesterday? More Red Tape, Uncertainty – Won’t be Happy Till that Numberis Zero.Houston Chronicle (12/9) reports, “The Obama administrationwill require environmental studies before approving any deep-water wells – anew regulatory hurdle that virtually assures the government will notgreen-light any of those projects soon. In outlining the plan Wednesday, thenation’s top offshore drilling regulator said he hopes the environmentalreviews will add "weeks, not months" to the deep-water permitting processcritics say is already too slow. Butoil and gas industry leaders were skeptical, noting that even though the Obamaadministration lifted its moratorium on deep-water drilling in October, thegovernment has yet to approve any new wells that would have been blocked by theban. Dan Naatz, a vice president for the Independent Petroleum Association ofAmerica, said the move would further delay deep-water drilling by creating arequirement for reviews he called redundant. Mark Shuster, the manager of Gulfof Mexico exploration for Shell Oil, said it’s a significant concern that thegovernment no longer will exempt even relatively common sidetrack operationswhere new well holes are drilled near existing ones. If the assessment planencompasses all new drilling from offshore platforms – not just from drillingrigs – it will strain the ocean energy bureau’s resources, Shuster said. Thereviews also add to oil companies’ workload because they must supplyenvironmental information – a process that can take several weeks – beforeregulators can conduct their assessments.”

We Always Knew “Green” Jobs are Temporary Jobs; Now Big Wind Confirmsit: Without Taxpayer Handout to Wind Industry, “Tens of Thousands of Jobs” areat Risk. Bloomberg (12/8) reports,“Jobs will be cut in the solar and wind industries unless a U.S. tax-grantprogram that companies have relied on is extended, renewable-energy advocatessaid. Retention of the 1603 program, which gives developers grants equal toone-third of a project’s value, wasn’t included in the tax package negotiatedby President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress. The program, nowscheduled to expire on Dec. 31, was added to last year’s stimulus act to helpcompanies unable to get financing during the financial crisis. The grantprogram is “the most important policy for continuing growth of therenewable-energy industry in the United States,” Rhone Resch, president andchief executive officer of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said todayon a conference call with reporters. More than$5.5 billion in grants had gone to companies as of November, supporting morethan $18 billion in clean-energy development, according to the solar-industrytrade group. Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said“tens of thousands of jobs” are at risk. The wind industry would create 20,000new jobs next year if the grants are extended, renewable-energy groups said ina letter yesterday to congressional leaders. The workforce may contract by 25percent without them, the groups said.”

Meanwhile, Nat Gas Industry inPennsylvania Hiring Thousands, Investing Millions, All a Resultof What we Call the Market.PittsburghTribune-Review (12/9) reports, “RangeResources Corp. could employ 1,000 workers in Western Pennsylvania five toeight years from now, an executive said Wednesday as the natural gas producermarked the start of construction on its new Appalachian offices.The FortWorth-based company has 300 employees now in the region and 400 acrossPennsylvania. All but about 20 are from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio,Ray N. Walker Jr., senior vice president of Marcellus operations, said at thebuilding site in the Southpointe II complex in Cecil in Washington County."We are hiring the whole gamut," Walker said, from office workers to roustaboutswho labor at drilling sites, plus welders and fitters, geophysicists andgeologists. "There will be a whole lot more of the hourly workers that wewill hire going forward, as we get more wells," Walker said, estimatingRange Resources has hired just over 100 people in Western Pennsylvania thisyear. The company will have 180,000 square feet of space in its new building on13 acres of a hillside above Consol Energy Inc.’s headquarters. Southpointehouses offices for 58 energy-related companies, Walker said, and gas producershave other offices scattered around the region. Range Resources recently openeda field office near the Washington County Fairgrounds in Chartiers.”

Wind Energy Affordable? Not in the Ocean State; New Projectto More than Double the Cost of Electricity. Associated Press(12/8) reports, “A renewable energy company has proposed what it says would bethe largest offshore wind farm in the United States: a 200-turbine,1,000-megawatt project off the coast of Rhode Island that would provide powerto multiple states along the East Coast. Deepwater Wind LCC, which recentlymoved its headquarters from New Jersey to Providence, says the turbines wouldbe far enough offshore as to be barely visible from land and would be locatedin the ocean waters of Rhode Island Sound. The company has submitted anapplication for the project, estimated to cost between $4 billion to $5billion, to the U.S. Department of the Interior to lease the site where itplans to build the wind farm. It hopes to begin construction in 2014 and havethe first turbines in operation by the end of 2015. The project will requirestate and federal approval. The Deepwater Wind proposal is on top of a muchsmaller pilot project planned by the company off the coast of Block Island.Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch has appealed the power purchaseagreement to the state Supreme Court, saying the 24.4-cents-per-kilowatt dealwould force Rhode Islanders to buy overpriced electricity.”

Messagefrom the Mexican Government to US-Based Oil and Gas Companies: If the AmericanGov. Doesn’t Want You Operating in Their Waters, You’re Investment is WelcomeHere. Wall Street Journal (12/8) reports, “Mexico’sSupreme Court has given state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos the green lightto continue with plans to award incentive-based service contracts to privatecompanies that want to drill for oil in the country. At the same time, thecourt reiterated Mexico’s exclusive obligation and right to develop its oilwealth, reinforcing the understanding that any reserves and hydrocarbonsproduced remain the property of the state. The court issued a statement lateTuesday saying reforms to Mexico’s restrictive energy laws in 2008 are in linewith the country’s Constitution, which bars Mexico from granting oilconcessions or property rights in the energy sector to private oil companies,foreign or domestic. The ruling supports Pemex’s intentions to broaden itscollaboration with private firms, while offering the company legal cover incase of future legal challenges, says George Baker, of Houston-based consultingfirm Energia.com. A source within Pemex echoed Mr. Baker’s assertion, sayingthe ruling "removes obstacles" that may have prevented Pemex from hiringprivate firms to drill. Mexico expropriated foreign oil assets in 1938 and hassince kept foreign participation in the industry to a minimum. But with oilproduction sliding, the state company, which is extremely short on funds andtechnology, has been searching for ways to work with foreign energy companiesthat can offer both.”

Pyle: “Neitherjobs nor the nation’s energy security are important considerations for thispresident.” Thomas Pyle(12/7) writes on FoxNews.com, “Just prior to the mid-term elections,President Obama ended the drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico, at longlast heeding an outcry that included members of his own party. However, thegesture was purely political, and as it turns out, deceptive. Behind thescenes, his regulators imposed new red tape so complex that a de facto“permitorium” effectively kept the ban in place. The result was permanent joblosses, even as it came to light that the Interior Department doctoredscientific reports to enforce what turned out to be an unnecessary shutdown ofGulf energy exploration in the first place. The oil and gas industry supported$12.7 billion in household earnings in Louisiana alone, according to statedata, and a study by LSU Professor Joseph Mason found that the ban cost up to155,000 jobs. The impact extended to the region’s small businesses fromsuppliers to grocery stores relying on revenue from the oil and gas industry. OnDecember 1, the president finally gave up the charade and declared that nodrilling will take place in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico for the next five years.He even upped the ante, adding the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts to the no-drillzones. Evidently, neither jobs nor the nation’s energy security are importantconsiderations for this president.”

Big Wind,Hat-in-Hand, Claims Thousands of Jobs at Stake if Taxpayer Handouts to theIndustry Aren’t Continued. Associated Press (11/7) reports, “The wind industry urgedCongress on Tuesday to extend a cash grant program for production of renewableenergy, claiming tens of thousands of jobs are at stake. Meanwhile, a birdadvocacy group, the American Bird Conservancy, cautioned lawmakers to limitgrant recipients to those who take steps to protect wildlife — arguingthat such protections are needed to prevent avoidable bird fatalities atwindmills. The flurry of lobbying came as Congress took up a tax package thatincludes President Barack Obama’s compromise with Republicans on tax cuts. TheAmerican Wind Energy Association wants the package to include renewal of thecash grant program for development in wind, solar and other renewable energy.The program, created by the federal stimulus law, is set to expire at the endof this month. The wind group said that tens of thousands of Americans couldlose their jobs or not get called back from layoffs unless the program isextended.”

Thousandsof Wells Drilled in Gulf, One Tragic Accident. Token Republican on SpillCommission says, “industry has not made safety a high enough priority.”Wall Street Journal (12/8) reports, “The oil and gas industryneeds a "major transformation" in its approach to safety to avoidanother big offshore-drilling disaster, a leader of the presidential panelinvestigating the BP PLC accident plans to tell a gathering of industryofficials Wednesday. William K. Reilly, co-chairman of the National Commission onthe BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, also plans to saythat BP and two other companies involved with the doomed Macondowell—Halliburton Co. and Transocean Ltd.—made "breathtakinglyinept and largely preventable" missteps, according to a copy of hisprepared remarks viewed by The Wall Street Journal. "The interest groupthat could most threaten the future viability of offshore drilling is the oiland gas industry itself," Mr. Reilly says in the speech. "There hasto be a recognition that the industry has not made safety a high enoughpriority. We need a major transformation in the oil and gas industry’sunderstanding of what it means to put a priority on creating a safety culture.This is an industry wide challenge that can’t simply be laid at the feet of afew rogue players."

Time forE&C to become H&C: First order of Business for Incoming Chair of ENERGY& Commerce Committee? Name Joe Pitts Chair the Healthcare Sub Committee. Politico (12/7) reports, “Overcoming concerns that he’s too moderatefor the job, Rep. Fred Upton emerged Tuesday as the winner of a bitter internalRepublican battle to lead the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. TheMichigan Republican won the steering panel nod with critical support from Rep.John Boehner and a collection of senior and rank-and-file GOP lawmakers closelyallied with the incoming House speaker. The full GOP caucus must now ratifyUpton’s selection Wednesday, but that is expected to be a formality as formerEnergy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) told POLITICO he will notchallenge the steering committee’s decision. Upton ispoised to run a panel with broad authority over the economy, from health careto energy and telecommunications. While campaigning for the job, the 12-termlawmaker appealed to conservatives nervous about his credentials by pledging topursue repeal of key pieces of the new health care law and also closelyscrutinize the Obama administration’s climate change and energy policies. Uptonhas already made his first major choice – picking Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.)as chairman of the Health Subcommittee. “Together, we will protect the sanctityof life, ensuring early next Congress that no federal funds are used for abortion,”Upton said in a statement.”

StateDept. on Global Tour Promoting HF, Shale Gas Development. Stateside, EPA isLooking to Shutdown Process. Chris Tucker (11/8) writes on the Oklahoman, “An energy revolution is under way in the U.S.thanks to hydraulic fracturing, a 60-year-old oil and natural gas stimulationtechnology that — coupled with advancement in horizontal drilling —is making the development of energy from underground shale formationseconomical for the first time. Given that natural gas has half the carbonemissions as coal, the U.S. State Department is aggressively promoting shalegas exploration throughout Asia and Europe as a way to reduce global carbonemissions. While one bureaucracy in Washington is promoting natural gas abroad,another is angling to hamstring production at home, citing claims that itcontaminates groundwater. Despite how fracturing has been portrayed inHollywood and by some national media, it’s been tightly regulated byenergy-producing states for more than six decades, and safely used more than1.1 million times without impacting groundwater. Top EPA officials haveconfirmed this fact. For decades, politicians have touted “energyindependence.” As modern shale gas development continues to expand, energysecurity is now truly on the horizon. Oklahomans reside atop the WoodfordShale, whose development has contributed ample jobs and revenue to the state.Even President Obama recently cited natural gas as an area for congressionalbipartisanship.”

RES,CES, REM; Call it What you Want. Mandated Use of One form of Electricity OverAnother is a Win for Wall Street, Raw Deal for Main Street. E&ENews (subs.req’d, 12/7) reports, “Energy Secretary Steven Chu today laid out a possibleproposal for a "clean energy standard" to help provide energycompanies more long-term investment certainty. A requirement that utilities useclean energy sources — such as solar, wind and nuclear — to meet a percentageof electric generation could give certainty to the markets and power companiesjust as a price on carbon would, Chu said during a nuclear energy roundtablediscussion hosted by the think tank Third Way and the Idaho NationalLaboratory. The "clean energy standard" (CES) would provide a targetand guidelines to help businesses make decisions but would not cost the federalgovernment any money, instead becoming a direct cost to the consumers and themarket, he said. "The federal government is ultimately responsible for thelong-term … consistent policy" for energy companies, Chu said. "Aclean energy portfolio standard is one example of a potential policy that theadministration and Congress should discuss. … In this time of fiscalausterity I propose such a standard." Chu said it could be viable to set astandard of 50 percent clean energy by 2050, with an intermediate target of 25percent by 2025. Chu added that 2020 was too short a timeline for nuclearenergy because of the long licensing and construction time needed for newreactors. A definition for "clean energy" could be any generationthat was able to capture 90 percent of emissions, he suggested.”

Under Locke and Key:Lawmakers Ask Admin. to Release Internal Commerce Dept. Reports Showing TrueImpacts Expected from EPA’s Risible Boiler Rule. E&E News(12/7, subs. req’d) reports, “Lawmakers worried about the job impacts of finalair pollution standards for industrial boilers are still seeking informationabout the controversial proposal that was released in April, though U.S. EPAhas signaled that the final rule will be less aggressive. Based on discussionswith Commerce officials, businesses believe the department’s study"dramatically contradicts" EPA’s prediction that the rules would leadto about 8,000 job losses, according to an industry source. The existence ofthe Commerce study "reinforces concerns that this rule may significantlyundercut economic recovery in key affected industries," says the letter,which was sent Friday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Commerce SecretaryGary Locke. The four senators who sent the letter are among the 40-plussenators who raised concerns this summer about the stringency of the draftlimits on mercury, dioxins and other toxic emissions from boilers. Theregulations, which are supposed to be finalized by next month, have drawnintense criticism from paper mills, chemical plants and other businesses thatuse the boilers to power their facilities. Some companies using the boilers saytheir plants would not be able to achieve the pollution cuts that the draftstandards demanded.

Is the Reliable Delivery ofUtilities to Customers a “Nuisance” For Which Utilities Should Be Sued? SupremeCourt Says It’ll Weigh In Next Year.Associated Press (12/6) reports, “In a new case aboutclimate change, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal from electric utilitiesthat are trying to short-circuit an effort by states to force cuts in powerplant emissions. The court agreed Monday to consider ending a federal lawsuitby eight states, New York City and others that accuse the power companies ofbeing among the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world. The suit asksa federal judge to order reductions in the emissions in plants in 20 states. Afederal judge initially threw out the case, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court ofAppeals in New York said it could continue. The lawsuit says carbon dioxide isone of the chief causes of global warming. The greenhouse gas is produced whencoal, gasoline and other fossil fuels burn. The American Electric Power Co. andthe other utilities do not want courts getting involved in the issue. Thecompanies argue that only the Environmental Protection Agency can set emissionsstandards. The Obama administration, representing the TVA, urged a middlecourse that would have avoided a full-blown hearing at the high court.

Fair Weather Friends: CarolBrowner’s Reign as “Energy Czar” Might Not Survive the Holidays – ButWaxman, Rahall, and Friends Aren’t Exactly Rushing to Her Defense. Politico (12/7) reports, “The “energy czar” position may not be thatappealing next year given the shrunken role for the president’s legislativeagenda and prospects of Republican investigations. GOP lawmakers havecomplained from Day 1 that Browner and similar White House officials have toomuch authority over established agencies that Congress can more easily keeptabs on. "Are the Senate-confirmed individuals allowed to do their job, ordo they find an emissary without a constitutional portfolio telling them how tospend money?" said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming chairman ofthe House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Even key Democrats, suchas co-author of the House cap-and-trade bill, outgoing Energy and CommerceChairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), aren’t lining up to save the office. "Idon’t have any feelings about it one way or another,” Waxman said, noting thepresence of other sources for energy and climate advice, including the WhiteHouse Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency."Abolish that office," said Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), the outgoingchairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who said it duplicates thework of existing agencies. "We’ll survive as a nation without it.”

Follow This Logic: Levelingthe Playing Field by Removing $0.45 Tariff on Importation of Ethanol WouldSomehow Hurt American Consumers – That’s What Big Corny Says.E&E News(12/6, subs. req’d) reports, “Ethanol boosters and bashers have conflictingpredictions for how fuel pump prices could change if tax credits and otherindustry supports are allowed to expire at the end of this year, with somepredicting a price drop, while others see it going up. Last week, Sen. ChuckGrassley (R-Iowa) declared in floor testimony, "A lapse in the ethanol taxincentive is a gas tax increase of over 5 cents a gallon at the pump." Inan address aimed at shoring up support for extending the 45-cent-a-gallonvolumetric ethanol excise tax credit, or VEETC, for blenders, Grassley said,"I just don’t see the logic in arguing for a gas tax increase when we haveso many Americans unemployed or underemployed and struggling just to get by.The ethanol industry is pushing hard to extend that and a 54-cent-a-gallontariff on imported ethanol that mainly serves to keep out cheaper,Brazilian-made sugar cane ethanol. In a paper published in July and updated inNovember, an economist from Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural andRural Development projected that an expiration of the VEETC and a54-cent-per-gallon tariff on ethanol, taken together, could lower pump pricesfor drivers. That study, by Center for Agricultural and Rural DevelopmentDirector Bruce Babcock, is favored by groups including the National ResourcesDefense Council and Friends of the Earth.

Cancun Climate Talks Goinga Lot More Smoothly than the Ones in Copenhagen Last Year – One Reason:“No Expectations” of Anything Getting Done, Says EDF.Washington Post (12/6) reports, “The U.N.-sponsored climatetalks, which began here a week ago, entered a new phase Monday, as delegatesand high-ranking ministers from nearly 200 countries settled into vast, sunlessmeeting rooms, intent on restoring the credibility of a process aimed atslowing global warming. While last year’s climate talks in Copenhagen producedlittle despite attracting more than 100 heads of state, some experts suggestedthis wonkish two-week meeting in a resort better known for college undergrads’drunken excesses could end up laying the groundwork for a future climateagreement. "In stark contrast to Copenhagen, there’s less acrimony, andless ambition and less expectations," said Jennifer Haverkamp, managingdirector for international climate policy at the Environmental Defense Fund.Patricia Espinosa, who is the conference’s president, vowed there would be nosecret negotiations on her watch. And Sunday she paired a minister from anindustrialized and a developing nation to head working groups on each of thekey elements of a final agreement.

The Eagle Has Landed:Unfortunately, Just Not In One Piece – Wind Producer Forced to Pay $2.5Min Legal Settlement for Killing Lots and Lots of Birds.Contra Costa Times (12/6) reports, “The largest wind energyproducer in the Altamont Pass area of eastern Alameda and Contra Costa countieshas agreed to replace 2,400 wind turbines within four years and pay $2.5million in a legal settlement to reduce deaths of eagles, hawks and otherraptors hacked by turbine blades. The settlement between NextEra EnergyResources, the state, and several environmental groups was announced Monday bythe state Attorney General Jerry Brown. One environmental leader praised thedeal as a model for producing wind energy while minimizing the heavy toll thewhirling turbine blades take on hundreds of raptors each year. "We thinkthat is a landmark agreement that balances the need for clean energy withprotections for wildlife," said Michael Lynes, conservation director forthe Golden Gate Audubon Society. "This is an aggressive schedule forreplacing turbines with new ones. It will go a long way toward reducing thekills in the Altamont area." The settlement resolves a debate about whetherthe company was making sufficient progress toward a previous legal pledge toreduce bird kills by 50 percent from 2007 to 2010.

Say What You Want AboutFred Upton, But You Gotta Hand It to the Guy: Dude Has Spent the Past 3 WeeksChurning Out a Ton of Great Material.The Hill (12/6) reports, “Drilling in ANWR has long been a bone ofcontention between Democrats and Republicans, and the letter could be seen as alast-minute attempt to win support from his GOP colleagues. Many Democrats arestaunchly opposed to drilling in the 19-million-acre parcel of land in Alaska,while Republicans argue that new drilling technology will make it safe to extractoil reserves from the wildlife refuge. “As ranking Republican on the Energy andEnvironment Subcommittee, I understand the politics of ANWR very well, andacknowledge that the base of your party is uncomfortable with lifting themoratorium on exploration and production in ANWR,” Upton said in a Dec. 6letter to Obama. “Nevertheless, I urge you to put our nation’s needs ahead ofpolitics, and implore you not to make it impossible to ever explore for naturalresources in ANWR.” Though Upton noted in the letter that it could take up to10 years from the time ANWR is opened for drilling in the refuge to becomeoperational, he nonetheless said the time frame “is not an excuse forcontinuing to kick the can down the road.”

Do It for Babs: You ThoughtDems’ Last-Ditch, Lame-Duck, Public Lands-Lock-Away Bill Was Just a DesperateHail Mary? Maybe So, Says Boxer – But Can’t You Do It For Me? Politico (12/6) reports, “Democratic efforts to push through more than100 public lands and water bills in the lame duck session are reaching a feverpitch, with the recognition this is the last chance many of them have to becomelaw. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has tasked Democratic leaderson at least three committees to come up with a list of bills that could getpast a GOP filibuster. They may also need to be able to secure the two-thirdssupport that would be needed if the House tries to expedite the package withoutamendments in a tight legislative calendar. Senate Environment and Public WorksChairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told reporters Thursday that she has givenReid a draft list of bills to consider. That evolving list is believed toinclude plans to provide protection to the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, LakeTahoe, the Gulf of Mexico and the San Francisco Bay. “The issue is getting 60votes, which we think we can,” Boxer said. “They represent the work ofcommittees and senators over the course of this Congress and, for many, overthe course of a career and they deserve a vote,” the spokesperson said.

Carter Weeps: 50 Years AgoToday, Pres. Carter Officially Set Aside ANWR as Strategic Energy Reserve forUS – 50 Years Later, It Functions Today as an NRDC Direct-Mail Piece. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and SpencerAbraham (12/5) write in the Politico, “Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the northeast corner ofAlaska’s designation as the Arctic National Wildlife Range. This area, home tolarge quantities of natural resources, has been off limits to energyproduction. We had a unique opportunity 15 years ago to change course andfortify our nation’s domestic energy supply. But it was derailed. In 1995,President Bill Clinton vetoed legislation that would have allowedenvironmentally responsible exploration for an estimated 10 billion plusbarrels of oil in a tiny sliver of ANWR. This action deprived our nation of whatcould now be about one million barrels of oil per day—an amount thatwould allow us to reduce our imports by almost 10 percent. And that’s not all.Astoundingly, huge percentages of additional U.S. oil resources remainoff-limits to exploration. According to federal estimates, there is enough oilin deep waters many miles off our coasts and on federal lands to power morethan 60 million cars for 60 years. In addition, if we advance thecommercialization of the nation’s 2 trillion barrel oil shale resource, wecould meet U.S. oil needs for more than two centuries.

Dodgers: Utilities in LosAngeles Quietly Inform Mayor that His Goal of 40% of Renewable ElectricityGeneration is Insane — $2.4B in New Costs for Ratepayers, Well After Tony’sOut of Office.LA Times (12/5) reports, “As Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosaprepares to pick the next general manager of the Department of Water and Power— his sixth in three and a half years — the massive utility isquietly backing away from his ambitious goal of generating 40% of its powerfrom renewable sources by 2020. That shift, initiated under the leadership ofFirst Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner, is only the latest at an agency marked byupheaval as it pursues the mayor’s lofty environmental agenda. SinceVillaraigosa took office in 2005, the nation’s largest municipally ownedutility has been in a state of churn. Multimillion-dollar initiatives have beenannounced, then abandoned. Executives have been installed, then jettisoned. Theproposed 20-year plan calls for the DWP to reach a 33% renewable energy targetby 2020, putting it in line with state regulations. That move would cut coststo the utility’s residential and business customers by up to $2.4 billion over20 years. That view was not shared by former DWP General Manager H. DavidNahai, who said the DWP’s latest plan "constituted a U-turn" from themayor’s 2009 inaugural speech, Nahai said.

Unacceptable: Experts SayRamming-Through of Nuclear Arms Treaty with Russia a More Important Priorityfor Lame-Duck than Mandate on Unaffordable, Unreliable Electricity.E&E News(12/6, subs. req’d) reports, “Sen. Byron Dorgan may end his 18-year Senatecareer in disappointment, as it looks doubtful Congress will pass a bill thissession requiring utilities to use a set amount of renewable energy generationfor electricity."Boy, it will be a major disappointment if this Congressshuts down at the end of this year without having done anything on energy,anything of consequence," said Dorgan, who is retiring this year. The RESmeasure faces stiff competition from an already-full Senate schedule. Congresshas two weeks to pass legislation to continue funding the government beyondDec. 18 and to negotiate a tax package that would extend expiring income taxcuts. Republicans say those measures must be finished before they will considerany other legislation. President Obama is pressing for passage of a nucleararms treaty with Russia — known as START — and Majority Leader Harry Reid(D-Nev.) also wants to take up a bill on immigration. Bill Wicker, a spokesmanfor Bingaman, said, "Tax issues and the [continuing resolution] and STARTare sucking all the oxygen out of the lame duck. Understandably, the prioritiesof Congress at this moment are deciding what to do about taxes. Once those areresolved, we’ll see if any time remains to take up a bill as sensible as theRES."

This Just In: CurrentAdministration Committed to “Aggressive Environmental Agenda” with EPA Runningthe Point from DC – Seems Like a Recipe for Job-Creation to Us.E&E News(12/3, subs. req’d) reports, “The Obama administration is committed to an"aggressive environmental agenda" that goes beyond what was achievedduring the past four decades, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said today duringa speech at Harvard University. Jackson spoke during a conference that featuredappearances by several leading lights of the environmental movement, includingEPA’s first administrator, Bill Ruckelshaus, and former Vice President Al Gore,who spoke to agency officials during an invitation-only luncheon. The eventcapped a week of events celebrating EPA’s 40th birthday and also previewed thecase the agency will make when the balance of power on Capitol Hill shiftstoward the Republicans next year. High-ranking Republicans have vowed to keepJackson and other top officials tethered to the witness stand, pushing Congressto block regulations that they feel would harm the economy. But while votersmay have been concerned about federal bureaucracy when they cast their ballotslast month, polls still show that they want the government to protect publichealth and the environment, Jackson said. In the past, Democrats andRepublicans have worked together to put those programs in place, she said.

Al Gore’s Campaign to Savethe Planet Having More Trouble These Days Saving Its Office Space; Last Year,Had Field Operations in 25 States – This Year? Seven.Politico (12/6) reports, “One of Al Gore’s campaigns to save the planethas scaled back its field operations since climate legislation failed earlierthis year in Congress. The Alliance for Climate Protection was operating inabout 25 states at its peak, including Florida, Michigan, Missouri, NewHampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania. "We’ve always believed it’s a mobileand nimble operation," said Sean Sarah, the non-profit group’s spokesman."We move to areas where it’s most effective. Of course the situation inCongress has changed. So our strategies and tactics have changed along withit." Sarah didn’t disclose which states the Alliance still has workersin. But he said the group retains its same staff size and headquarters inWashington and Gore’s hometown of Nashville. Gore in 2008 launched a $300million advertising and lobbying campaign through the Alliance to help passclimate legislation on Capitol Hill, telling CBS’ 60 Minutes at the time it wasa “blitz as sweeping and expensive as a big corporation’s rollout of a newproduct.” The group has not disclosed how much of that money it ultimatelyspent.

UN Climate KleptocratsDeliver Ransom Note to US Delegation in Cancun: Begin Destruction of YourEconomy in 24 Months, Or Risk Hairy Eyeballs at Next Cocktail Party. Bloomberg (12/6) reports, “Diplomats at United Nations climate talksthis week will consider a two-year deadline for industrial nations to sign upfor further cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions after Kyoto Protocol limits expirein December 2012. Brazil, named by the UN to help broker an agreement on thefuture of Kyoto, wants industrial nations at this meeting to agree to make newreduction pledges within two years. Mexico, which is coordinating thediscussions in Cancun, said the pledges would have to be in place in the firsthalf of 2012. Adopting the measures may help bolster the price of carbondioxide emissions permits, which tumbled after talks in Copenhagen in December2009 failed to produce a new treaty on reducing fossil fuel pollution blamedfor global warming. The envoys “need to send the right signal to the carbonmarket,” Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, Brazil’s lead negotiator, said in aninterview in Cancun. “How this signal will be sent is perhaps the crux of theproblem.”

Just Do It: Nike, SundryOther Rent-Seekers Demand Immediate Action in Cancun to Cut American Jobs– Makes Sense, Since Most of Nike’s Employees Live in Bangladesh. The Hill (12/5) reports, “Companies including Starbucks and Nike sayU.S. officials should take the lead in creating a global climate change fund, amove that comes as some Senate Republicans are pressing the State Department tohalt climate financing for developing nations. A corporate coalition that alsoincludes Timberland, eBay, and PepsiCo. says in a letter to President Obamathat the U.S. should drive creation of the fund at the ongoing United Nationsclimate talks in Cancun, Mexico, calling it “imperative that the United Statesreassert its credibility and leadership on climate change and establish a fundat this critical juncture.” “Climate change effects are global. So are ourmarkets and supply chains. As outlined in your speech to the United NationsMillennium Development Goals Summit on September 22, 2010, it is in ourlong-term economic interest to partner with developing countries, which willbolster their efforts to transition from poverty to prosperity throughsustainable and equitable economic growth,” states the letter released Fridaythrough the group Oxfam.

Sen. Casey’s Anti-FRAC ActDidn’t See a Single Hearing or Markup During 110^th Congress –So Now, Naturally, He Wants It to Be Attached as Rider on Something Meaningful.Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (12/5) reports, “Mr. Reid was going tobring the bill to the floor earlier this month but withdrew it because thebill’s co-sponsor, Sen. Orrin Hatch objected. A Hatch spokeswoman said thesenator didn’t like the fact that the bill was paid for with a dramaticincrease in a tax on companies for the oil spill liability fund. He’s not theonly one with a beef. Environmental groups lined up against the bill in aletter to Mr. Reid last week, protesting that it was a giveaway to the naturalgas industry without addressing environmental concerns over gas extraction."It’s crazy that we would consider investing money in natural gasinfrastructure and expanding the demand for natural gas when there are notbasic environmental and public health protections in place to protectPennsylvanians and all Americans from the effects of drilling," said AdamGarber, organizer for PennEnvironment. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is the leadsponsor of the FRAC Act, which would require drilling companies to disclose allthe chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing — in which water,sand and chemicals are blasted into rock formations to free the gas — andwould bring the process under federal regulation. Mr. Casey said he is stillworking on getting disclosure language into law, as the FRAC Act hasn’tadvanced.