News

BadNews for Markey: National Science Lab in Berkeley – the One that Secretary ChuHeaded Up – Says Undersea Plume of Oil Has Been Completely Eliminated. Greenwire (8/24, subs.req’d) reports, "The Gulf of Mexico’s undersea oil plume is no more. For nearlya month, scientists sampling the site of a deepwater plume stretching southwestfrom BP PLC’s failed well in the Gulf have been foiled. Their sensors have gonesilent. Where once a vibrant — if diffuse — cloud of oil stretched for miles,3,600 feet below the surface, there is now only ocean, and what seems to be thedebris of a bacterial feeding frenzy. "For the last three weeks, wehaven’t been able to detect the deepwater plume at all," said Terry Hazen,a microbiologist and oil spill expert at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratorywho has had a clutch of researchers monitoring the Gulf since late May. Thedisappearance is backed up by government sampling data. The plume is simplygone. And Hazen knows why. "This all fits with the fact that the bugs havedegraded the oil," he said. Despite press accounts to the contrary, thedisappearance of this deepwater oil plume, whose midsummer existence wasdetailed last week by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is far from ashock, at least to scientists. Undersea bacteria — the single-cell janitors ofthe marine world — along with currents and diffusion likely combined todegrade or isolate the dispersed oil to undetectable levels, Hazen said.

BromwichWants Offshore Moratorium Pulled Early, and He Very Well May Get It  – But Will Lifting the Ban ActuallyMake Things Normal Again? Maybe Not. Bloomberg(8/25) reports, "President Barack Obama’s administration may agree to an earlyend for its moratorium on deep-water oil and gas drilling while backing newregulations that may keep rigs idle for months afterward. Obama is likely tolift the drilling ban in October, ahead of its scheduled Nov. 30 expiration,said Michael McKenna, president of MWR Strategies, an oil industry consultingfirm in Washington. Heightened scrutiny of drilling’s risks may delay theresumption of operations by companies such as BP Plc and Apache Corp. untilmid-2011, McKenna said. The administration halted drilling in waters deeperthan 500 feet after BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico blew out April 20.Government officials from Gulf Coast states say the moratorium is ravaging aregional economy already hit hard by the spill, putting the White House underpolitical pressure to end the ban early, McKenna said.  "Lifting the moratorium is almostunimportant," McKenna said in an interview. "It’s how different the regulatoryregime is going to be after. The end game here is to make it a very, verydifficult and time-consuming regulatory process."

Don’tMess: Major Rallies in Support of Offshore Energy Planned for September 1 in 3Cities in Texas – Not a Place You’ll Want to Be if Your Name is Kenneth L.Salazar. HoustonChronicle (8/25) reports, "Details of the previously announced ralliesagainst the deep-water drilling ban are emerging, with Texas events happeningon Wednesday, Sept. 1. According to the RallyForJobs website:  "More energy equals more jobs,higher incomes and greater economic growth. We must come together to tell Washingtonthat our livelihoods depend on the oil and natural gas industry and consumerswho rely on access to affordable energy will not be overlooked." Houston’sevent will be emcee’d by former TV news anchor Minerva Perez, the co-host ofLatina Voices on PBS. The speakers include Carroll G. Robinson of the HoustonCitizens Chamber of Commerce; Sherman Lewis III of The Lewis Group and BrandyJones of Energy People Connect. Entertainment will be by Bruce Robison . (Incidentally, his new song is"Heartache to Houston.") The events will take place in Houston,Corpus Christi, and Port Arthur.

EPATries to Play Both Sides of Debate Over Shale Gas, Hydraulic Fracturing – Butthe State Dept? They Love the Stuff, and Want to Spread the TechnologyEverywhere. TheHill (8/24) reports, "A senior State Department official said Tuesday thatthe U.S. boom in producing natural gas from shale rock formations could pave theway for other countries to expand development that allows displacement ofcarbon-heavy coal. David Goldwyn, the coordinator for international energyaffairs, was bullish about global shale-gas potential in remarks with reportersduring a State Department conference in Washington, D.C., devoted tointernational coordination on the resource. "The U.S. shale-gas phenomenon hastransformed global energy markets. Because we have discovered and we have thetechnology to develop efficiently large quantities of gas from shale, globalprices of liquefied natural gas have decreased. Gas has become cheaper. Gas isnow competitive with coal on a BTU basis, which means that countries that mightuse coal can now not make an economic choice, but on a competitive basis choosegas for their next level of power generation," he said. He said plentifulshale-gas supplies can help increase energy security, giving nations -including China and India – the ability to diversify and expand energy sources,and slow greenhouse gas emissions (burning natural gas emits fewer greenhousegases than coal or oil).

Diesel-PoweredGreenpeace Vessel Attempts to Disrupt Major Natural Gas Find Off the Coast ofGreenland – Danish Warship Puts an End to That Right Quick. WallStreet Journal (8/25) reports, "Cairn Energy PLC said it found natural gasoff Greenland’s western coast, bolstering hopes that the area could become oneof the world’s last significant untapped hydrocarbon provinces."We’reencouraged because we’ve established there are hydrocarbons in a basin thatnobody has ever drilled before that’s the size of the North Sea," he saidin an interview. Some of the world’s largest energy companies have gravitatedto Greenland’s iceberg-strewn waters in recent years, lured by estimates of itsenormous resource potential. The U.S. Geological Survey says the area couldhold around 50 billion barrels of oil and gas, more than the total provenreserves of Libya. A Greenpeace protest ship arrived at Cairn’s oil rig thisweek to highlight the perceived dangers in the company’s exploration program,but a Danish warship prevented the protest vessel from entering an exclusionzone around the rig. Denmark has sovereignty over Greenland. Cairn announcedTuesday that the first of the two exploration wells it is drilling in BaffinBay, between Canada and Greenland, had found natural gas, indicating thepresence "of an active hydrocarbon system." The Edinburgh-basedcompany said the gas could be associated with oil, though it is too early tosay for sure.

OrwellSmiles: VP Biden Doubles Down on Patently Ridiculous Assertion that Green JobsBoondoggle Is Working Exactly As Planned – How Scary Would it Be If He’s Right?TheHill (8/24) reports, "A White House report unveiled Tuesday says tens ofbillions of dollars in stimulus energy funding is helping to greatly expanddeployment of technologies such as solar power, "smart" electrical meters andadvanced batteries. The Obama administration is touting the projects asRepublicans are increasingly charging that the big 2009 stimulus package wasineffective and continuing attacks on the White House economic team. Recentreports by the Energy Department’s inspector general also cited problems withdistribution and use of the stimulus dollars, including "prevalent andwidespread" spending delays. The White House report (found here) forecaststhe effects of the law that provided $30 billion for renewable energy andefficiency programs, $6 billion for advanced vehicles and biofuels programs andbillions of dollars in other energy spending. "Thanks to investments madepossible by the Recovery Act, we are unleashing the American innovation machineto change the way we use and produce energy in this country," said EnergySecretary Steven Chu in a prepared statement. "Just as importantly, thesebreakthroughs are helping create tens of thousands of new jobs, allowing theU.S. to continue as a leader in the global economy and helping to provide abetter future for generations to come."

Meanwhile,Endless Subsidies Not Quite Enough to Allow First Solar to Turn a Profit in USA- So They Decide to Set Up Shop in Communist China Instead.  Bloomberg(8/24) reports, "First Solar Inc., the U.S. company planning the world’s biggestsolar-power plant in China, is "reasonably confident" China’s government willset electricity prices high enough to make the project viable, a spokesmansaid. The company, which announced the project in September and missed itsplanned start of construction in June, is still negotiating the "economicconditions" of the power plant with China, said Brandon Mitchener, aBrussels-based spokesman for the Tempe, Arizona-based solar-equipmentmanufacturer. The talks involve setting guaranteed above-market rates orsimilar instruments that support renewable energy projects, he said. Chinadelayed approving premium prices known as feed-in tariffs for solar power thatthe company said are essential for the viability its project in Ordos, InnerMongolia, in northern China, First Solar President Bruce Sohn said in May.First Solar, the world’s largest maker of thin-film solar power modules, rose11 percent in U.S. trading on Sept. 8 when it announced it would build the2,000-megawatt plant, set to be the world’s largest array of panels thatconvert sunlight directly into power. Construction on the first phase was tobegin June 1, 2010, with the last stage to be completed in 2019. Two thousandmegawatts can supply the equivalent of about 1.6 million U.S. homes when theplant runs at full capacity.

AlternateReality: Biden, Chu Set to Release Report This AM Arguing Green Stimulus CashIs Actually Working, Notwithstanding Paucity of Jobs. The WhiteHouse announced the following in a recent (8/23) media advisory: Tuesday,August 24th,  Vice President Bidenwill hold an event unveiling a report with new analysis on the impact ofRecovery Act investments in innovation, science and technology.  The Recovery Act is investing over $100billion in innovative and transformative programs that span industries fromEnergy to Health Information Technology. These investments are accelerating the pace of innovation, helping toestablish the U.S. as a global leader in competitive, high-growth industries ofthe 21st century.  The VicePresident will be joined by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu as he discusses howthese investments will help make important technologies more affordable in themarketplace and build the nation’s infrastructure to enable further soundeconomic growth and job creation. This event will be pooled for TV cameras, andopen to print, online, radio and still photographers. An RSVP is required toparticipate. Watch this event live at 10:45 AM ET at www.whitehouse.gov/live.

NewChief of Former MMS Agency Tells Spill Commission that Offshore Ban May BeLifted Before November – On Same Day Salazar (His Boss) Defends ItsContinuation. WallStreet Journal (8/23) reports, "The Obama administration’s chief offshoredrilling regulator said Monday the government could partially lift a moratoriumon new deep-water oil exploration before Nov. 30 if oil companies can persuadethe government their operations are safe. Michael Bromwich, the director of theBureau of Ocean Energy Management, Enforcement and Regulation, wrote in aletter to the special presidential commission investigating the BP PLC oilspill that the agency may decide that "certain categories of rigs presentfewer risks than others are and sufficiently safe to allow the moratorium to belifted with respect to those categories of rigs." The commission holds apublic meeting Wednesday. Members of the commission have questioned theadministration’s moratorium, which is also under attack in federal court. Thedrilling ban has been controversial in the Gulf Coast, where oil companies andlocal officials say it is crippling the region’s economy. The Obamaadministration says the ban is necessary while the government develops newsafeguards to lessen the chances of another giant oil spill like the one thatoccurred in the Gulf of Mexico after an April 20 well explosion that destroyeda floating oil rig and killed 11 workers.

CaliforniaPanhandle: SoCal Power Authority Set to Ask Ratepayers to Cough of $533 Millionto Help Underwrite Shift to Expensive, Unreliable Electricity. Bloomberg(8/23) reports, "Southern California Public Power Authority, provider ofelectricity to almost 5 million people, plans to sell $533.1 million ofmunicipal bonds in the biggest scheduled tax-exempt sale of the week. Theauthority expects to sell the biggest tranche, $40.8 million in 20-yearmaturities, at 40 basis points, or 0.40 percentage point, above AAA ratedmunicipal bonds, said Vernon Oates, finance and accounting manager.  "The fact that it’s a AA- issue, with alittle extra yield in a high-tax state, this is really going to dominate thecalendar," said Howard Cure, director of municipal bond research at EvercoreWealth Management in New York, which oversees about $1.5 billion. The proceedsfrom the authority sale will be used to prepay for power from the WindyPoint/Windy Flats Project, a 114- turbine wind-energy farm in Washington state.The Pasadena-based authority is purchasing the electricity on behalf of the LosAngeles Department of Water and Power and the city of Glendale.  California businesses, includingutilities, are required by state law to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissionssuch as carbon dioxide to 1990s levels, in part by purchasing more renewableenergy, Oates said. The authority lowers the cost by prepaying for theelectricity, he said.

Cat’sOut of the Bag: Markey Predicts His Enviro Allies Will Pound House ColleaguesWho Oppose Wind, Solar Hand-Outs with TV and Radio Ads Ahead of November. Greenwire (8/23, subs.req’d) reports, "Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) predicted last week that the Senatewill eventually clear the House-passed climate bill and blamed SenateRepublicans for hamstringing the effort. Markey, who co-authored the Houseclimate bill with Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), saidthat while the Senate missed an opportunity, soaring energy costs and theeffects of climate change will push the issue back into the politicalspotlight. "The conditions should have been right for us to act,"Markey said last week on C-SPAN’s "Newsmakers" program. "There’sno question about it, but those situations are going to arise again."Markey also predicted that candidates who oppose cap and trade will face apolitical backlash during November’s midterm election."I envision thatthere is going to be a reverse political takedown in many districts across ourcountry when the ads are run on wind, on solar, on biomass, on plug-in hybrids,contrasting the member who supports that with the member who opposes it,"he said. "Whichever Republicanshave decided to align themselves with that Kentucky coal and Oklahoma oilagenda are going to wind up with a very big surprise on Election Day."

Rank-and-FileEnviros May Have Zero In Common with Rank-and-File Union Workers, But ThatDoesn’t Stop UAW from Breaking Bread with Sierra Club. E&E News (8/23,subs. req’d) reports, "The United Auto Workers has announced that it will jointhe BlueGreen Alliance, a partnership of labor and environment groups pushingfor policies that create green jobs. The auto union said the announcement ispart of a larger effort for members to build more fuel-efficient cars and helprebuild the overall auto industry. "UAW members produce best-in-class carsand trucks, key vehicle components and top quality heavy-duty trucks, and weknow that we can rebuild the American auto industry by building cleaner, moreefficient vehicles — and developing the technologies that will get usthere," UAW President Bob King said. "We have enormous opportunitiesto revitalize this industry, and the American economy, by embracing the cleanenergy economy of the future." UAW — also called the International Union,United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America –represents more than 390,000 members primarily in the auto industry, althoughsome members work in gambling, health care and higher education. The BlueGreenAlliance was formed in 2006 by the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers.

NRDC-Backed"Republican" Enviro Group Calls on Congress to Dump Even More Cash into Landand Water Conservation Fund — $315M/Year Apparently Isn’t Enough. Jim DiPeso writes (8/24) in Politico, "In1977, Congress agreed to deposit $900 million, from offshore oil and gasroyalties, into the fund each year. Like fiscally responsible Couple A,Congress agreed to forgo some consumption today to be able to leave a bequestfor future generations.  Here’s thecatch. Money deposited into the fund is not automatically available for theintended purpose. Congress must appropriate it through legislation.  Like that fiscally irresponsible CoupleB, Congress has yielded to temptations to grab the money for other programs. Onaverage, Congress has appropriated only $313 million annually over the pastdecade – far below the $900 million per year authorized. The lack of fiscaldiscipline that has shortchanged investments in our natural heritage doesn’t squarewith what the public wants. Recent polling shows that 86 percent of voters -including 83 percent of Republicans – support using offshore oil and gasrevenues to protect open space and expand outdoor recreation opportunities.This conservation fund is a program that works. It has provided critical moniesto buy open space from willing sellers and to develop natural sites availablefor all citizens. This, in turn, pays dividends in good quality of life, healthand local economic activity.

Directorof the Titanic Knows a Thing or Two About Lost Causes – Which Is Likely Why HeDecided to Cancel Major Debate on Climate Change at Last Second. E&E News (8/23,subs. req’d) reports, "Cameron had been scheduled to debate climate changeskeptics yesterday, but the event was canceled at the last minute, according toMarc Morano, director of the skeptic website "Climate Depot" and aformer spokesman for Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). Morano said he and two otherskeptics — conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart and filmmaker Ann McElhinney– were planning to debate Cameron last night, but the director pulled the plugafter environmentalists warned him against participating in the forum. Moranosaid the cancellation was made while he was on his flight to Aspen. "Helet his friends in the environmental community spook him out of thisdebate," Morano said. "When he was warned that he was probably goingto lose and lose badly, he ran like a scared mouse." "Morano is notat James Cameron’s level to debate, and that’s why that didn’t happen,"Comins said. "Cameron should be debating someone who is similar to hisstature in our society." Morano was given a platform to speak in Aspen –a 90-minute event with a question-and-answer session, which he called his"consolation prize" and "an absolute joke." Comins saidMorano’s presentation was not an official summit event.

Collateral Damage: WSJ FindsObama Knew Well the Damage His Offshore Ban was Likely to Visit Upon Gulf Coast- 23K Lost Jobs; Think He Batted an Eyelash? WallStreet Journal (8/21) reports, "Senior Obama administration officialsconcluded the federal moratorium on deepwater oil drilling would cost roughly23,000 jobs, but went ahead with the ban because they didn’t trust theindustry’s safety equipment and the government’s own inspection process,according to previously undisclosed documents. They show the new top regulatoror offshore oil exploration, Michael Bromwich, told Interior Secretary KenSalazar that a six-month deepwater-drilling halt would result in "lostdirect employment" affecting approximately 9,450 workers and "lostjobs from indirect and induced effects" affecting about 13,797 more. TheJuly 10 memo cited an analysis by Mr. Bromwich’s agency that assumed directemployment on affected rigs would "resume normally once the rigs resumeoperations." The administration has said in court filings that theeconomic effect of suspended drilling wasn’t as severe as the industryasserted. In a filing with federal court in eastern Louisiana June 23, the dayafter a judge overturned the initial six-month halt, Justice Departmentattorneys said it affected 33 deepwater wells, "less than 1% of theexisting structures in the Gulf dedicated to oil exploration andproduction." A study by Louisiana State University economist Joseph Mason-publishedin July and commissioned by the American Energy Alliance, a group funded partlyby oil and gas companies-concluded a six-month shutdown of the 33 deepwaterrigs would result in a net loss of 12,000 jobs.

Good Money After Bad: PerhapsPreparing for Backlash from Today’s Journal Hit, Salazar Hastily Files Defenseof Offshore Ban in Today’s Houston Chron. Interior secretary Ken Salazar writes (8/22) in the HoustonChronicle, "In addition, under Bromwich, we are substantially increasingthe number of inspectors for offshore oil and gas drilling rigs and platforms.For too long, the agency that regulates offshore drilling has been short onresources. Together, the reforms we are implementing are strong, fair andrisk-based. In shallow waters – where the risks are different than deep waters -drillers can continue drilling if they meet the new standards and play by therules. Production throughout the Gulf of Mexico has also safely continuedthroughout the BP oil spill. However, in the deep-water areas, where theDeepwater Horizon blowout occurred, it is necessary and appropriate to requireoperators to demonstrate improved safety, blowout containment and spillresponse practices before allowing drilling to continue. To be sure, both thedeep-water drilling moratorium and the reforms we are implementing have drawnfire from the same powerful interests who have, over the last two decades,systematically fought regulation and oversight of offshore drillingoperations.  But make no mistake:Our country needs these reforms and we will deliver them. We will raise the barfor deep-water drilling. We will hold the industry accountable. And we willbuild the strongest and safest offshore energy development program in theworld. Salazar is secretary of the Interior.

Funny Thing About Ratepayers:They Prefer Affordable Electricity Over the Expensive Stuff – Which Is Why(Lots of) Coal Plants are Being Built Across the Country. AssociatedPress (8/22) reports, "Utilities across the country are building dozens ofold-style coal plants that will cement the industry’s standing as the largestindustrial source of greenhouse gases for years to come. An Associated Pressexamination of U.S. Department of Energy records and information provided byutilities and trade groups shows that more than 30 traditional coal plants havebeen built since 2008 or are under construction. The construction wavestretches from Arizona to Illinois and South Carolina to Washington, and hasemerged despite growing public wariness over the high environmental and socialcosts of fossil fuels, demonstrated by tragic mine disasters in West Virginia,the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and wars in the Middle East. Utilities say theyare clinging to coal because its abundance makes it cheaper than natural gas ornuclear power and is more reliable than intermittent power sources such as windand solar. Sixteen large plants have fired up since 2008, and 16 more are underconstruction, according to records examined by the AP. Combined, they willproduce an estimated 17,900 megawatts of electricity, sufficient to power up to15.6 million homes – roughly the number of homes in California and Arizona.

Finally, a Gov’t Agency with aClear Understanding of Its Mission: Interior Dept. Declares Better Oversight ofOff-Road Desert Racing a "Top Priority." TheHill (8/20) reports, "The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Managementpledged to toughen oversight of off-road racing on public lands after anaccident that killed eight spectators at a truck race Saturday in California’sMojave Desert. BLM said Friday it would "carefully review on a case-by-casebasis each approved and pending request to hold Off-Highway Vehicle races onpublic lands for which it issues permits." "We have launched an internal reviewof the tragedy and we will be taking a very close look at all approved permitsand pending requests and determine whether they are appropriate on acase-by-case basis," BLM Director Bob Abbey said in a statement."When we permit any activity on the public lands, our first priority ispublic and employee safety and health. We will look at these requests carefullyand consider the safety record of the individual or organization requesting apermit." He said the agency is "deeply saddened by the tragedy in theCalifornia Johnson Valley OHV open area" and that BLM will increase itspresence at future events.

Sen. Menendez Sees PoliticalOpportunity in Re-Writing Liability Laws to Prevent Independents from Producingin the Gulf – But Will Landrieu Let Him Get Away with It? E&E News (8/21,subs. req’d) reports, "Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu expressed confidenceyesterday that she and a fellow moderate Senate Democrat were close to acompromise on oil spill liability language after offering two separate proposalsearlier this month. Landrieu said she and Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska were closeto a consensus on liability language they are developing to hold oil companiesaccountable for spills without placing a burden on taxpayers and withoutshutting out smaller companies from operating offshore."We’re working veryclosely together," Landrieu said on the sidelines of a Washington eventfor her brother, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. "And I think by thetime we get back here, we’ll have reached a consensus." Landrieu andBegich have been vocal critics of the unlimited liability language in SenateMajority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) energy and oil spill-response package (S.3663). But the two could not come to an agreement on an alternative proposal beforeleaving for recess earlier this month.

Hava Nagila! Massive Natural GasDiscovery Off Coast of Israel Seen as a Game-Changer Not Just for Economy, Butthe Country’s National Security, Geopolitical Standing. NYTimes (8/20) reports, "Enormous deposits of natural gas have been detectedoff the Israel’s northern coast. Last year, the United States Geological Surveyestimated that more than 120 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserveslie beneath the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean, most of it within Israeliterritory. Several months after the report, another field of 8.7 trillion cubicfeet was found off Israel and a second, twice that size, was detected and is thoughtto have a 50 percent chance of proving out. Christopher Schenk, a geologist wholed the Geological Survey’s study, said in a telephone interview that there waslittle doubt of the area’s enormous gas potential. Israel’s energy needs willeasily be filled for the next generation by the gas, and the country could wellbecome an energy exporter. Energy companies have been helping drive the TelAviv Stock Exchange into a swirl of anticipation, and the talk has grown heady."This is a huge deal that could change the geo-strategy of the region andIsrael’s resources for years to come," commented Einat Wilf, a member ofParliament who serves on the foreign affairs and defense committee.

WarmBoot: In Fitting Eulogy to Cap-and-Raid, White House Quietly Removes AllReferences to Policy on Energy and Environment Website – Like It NeverHappened. E&E News (8/19,subs. req’d) reports, "The White House has recently revised its energy andenvironment website, stripping references to a cap-and-trade program forgreenhouse gases and a pledge to funnel $150 billion into clean energyresearch. Gone from the site is a section titled "Closing the CarbonLoophole and Cracking Down on Polluters." The website had pledged to"finally close the carbon pollution loophole" by stemming emissionsthrough a market-based cap, according to a version obtained by Jesse Jenkins ofthe Breakthrough Institute, but the updated version omits any mention of capand trade. The changes were likely made on June 23, according to Peter Bray,co-founder of Versionista, a company that tracks changes to websites. SenateDemocrats continued a last-minute push for a sweeping climate and energy billthroughout June, but prospects for passage appeared grim and Senate MajorityLeader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) punted on an energy and climate bill in late July.The updated site also omits a pledge from President Obama to invest $150billion in clean energy research and development over 10 years. That may bebecause the White House won’t have a way to fund the commitment; Obama’s 2010budget slated $120 billion from cap-and-trade climate revenue toward cleanenergy technologies. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

FriendsLike These: Not a Single Democrat Shows Up in Support of Markey’s Latest ShowHearing on Gulf – Dude Sat on the Dais Yesterday All By His Lonesome. TheHill (8/19) reports, "Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is a one-man show atThursday’s oil spill hearing hosted by the House Energy and Commercesubcommittee he chairs. No other members of either party in his Energy andEnvironment Subcommittee or the full Energy and Commerce Committee is attendingthe hearing. The hearing features administration officials, ocean experts andseafood-industry representatives testifying about the amount of oil thatremains to be cleaned up in the Gulf of Mexico and about the quality of theseafood in the region. Markey noted the absence of his colleagues at the startof the hearing. "We appreciate the fact that it is the middle of the summer. Weknow that many people have gone away," Markey said in his opening statement. "However,the oil has not gone away, and it is important for the Gulf of Mexico residentsto know that the attention on this issue has not gone away. That is why we arehaving this hearing today." Officials representing the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Food and DrugAdministration are defending their assessments that seafood from the Gulf isgenerally safe to eat despite the spill and will update how much oil is left tobe cleaned up.

CA"Clean Tech" Investors Know that Unlimited Access to Other Folks’ Money Is theOnly Way to Profit – "Invest" Millions in Fighting Grassroots CampaignTargeting A.B. 32.  Bloomberg(8/20) reports, "California’s clean energy investors are raising millions ofdollars for an advertising battle with oil refiners who want to delay the state’snew law on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The campaign, supported byinvestors such as Tom Steyer, founder of San Francisco-based hedge fundFarallon Capital Management LLC, aims to convince residents to vote against theso-called Proposition 23 when it comes up for approval in November. Theproposal, backed by the oil industry, would delay laws to begin regulating thestate’s carbon emissions in 2012. California’s Global Warming Solutions Act,signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2006, requires the state cutoutput of greenhouse gases linked to climate change to their 1990 levels by2020. The state will introduce a cap-and-trade program to put a price on carbonemissions and trade pollution rights. "It would be a big setback for cleanenergy in the U.S. if California’s climate-change law is overturned," KevinParker, the global head of asset management for Deutsche Bank AG, said in atelephone interview. If the most populous state backs away, it would give otherstates and the federal government "a free pass to do nothing" on curbinggreenhouse gases, said Parker, who oversees about $7 billion to $7.5 billion inclimate change related investments as part of about $700 billion in funds.

EtTu, Jane? 3 Months Ago, Greens Loved Them Some Jane Lubchenco; But Now NOAAChief Says Most of Oil is Gone from Gulf, and So She Must Pay. Politico (8/19)reports, "The Obama administration isn’t backing down on the declaration thatonly 25 percent of spilled oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico in the face ofcriticism from scientists, lawmakers and environmentalists. While the Aug. 4announcements from the White House briefing room and morning news shows drewpositive headlines, they have put officials in the uncomfortable position ofdefending a view of the spill that some say is far rosier than the picture inthe water. Administration officials say they are damned if they do, and damnedif they don’t, when it comes to releasing information from one point in time inthe midst of a fluid situation. "Folks are seriously now saying we shouldn’t have told people whatwe knew. We disagree," one official told POLITICO, noting the White Housewas criticized earlier this summer when it didn’t update the flow rate andother information immediately. "We’re comfortable with our numbers and aswe continue to learn more about what’s happening below the surface andelsewhere, we will build that into our estimate," Jane Lubchenco, thechief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said on ahastily-organized call with reporters Thursday.

Here’sHow You Know These Guys Are Serious: One Shell Platform in the Gulf Cost Moreto Engineer (Three Times More, Actually) than NASA’s Mars Pathfinder. NPR(8/18) reports, "New technology has changed oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexicotoo. As seen in the wake of BP’s blown-out well in the Gulf, companies havesophisticated technology like remote-controlled submarines. That means they canexplore for oil in places humans can’t even go. Sometimes the projects resemblea space mission. "The space program and the offshore industry have longshared technologies and learned from each other," says Tyler Priest,professor of global studies at the University of Houston. In 1996 NASA launcheda probe to Mars, and that same year Shell launched a drilling platform in 3,000feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico. "The difference being that Shell’splatform cost more than three times as much as NASA’s Mars Pathfinder, and arguablyinvolved more sophisticated technology and more sophisticated remoteengineering," Priest says. Now companies are drilling in 10,000 feet ofwater. "The fact that you can count on one hand the kind of blowouts thathave occurred in the face of these tens of thousands of wells is a prettyremarkable testimony to the safety and the risk management that the companiesprovide," Hofmeister says.

Centerfor Biological Diversity Has Two Departments In Its Office: One Files LawsuitsAll Day Long; The Other Issues Snarky Quotes to Politico and E&E Reporters. E&E News (8/19,subs. req’d) reports, "An environmental group asked a federal court today tostop construction of a 677-mile natural gas pipeline that would link producersin the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Northwest and California. The Center forBiological Diversity filed a motion for an injunction in the 9th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appeals here, asking for a temporary stay that would stop Ruby PipelineLLC, a subsidiary of El Paso Corp., from proceeding. The group has also filed alawsuit to halt the pipeline separate from the injunction attempt. El Paso hasignored the legal challenge and broke ground on the project earlier this month.A corporate spokesman reached in Houston said the company has no plans to stopand is proceeding as planned. The center in its lawsuit argues that federalpermits from BLM and an endangered species analysis from the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service are flawed. Noah Greenwald said the pipeline would jeopardizea number of endangered fish, including the Lahontan cutthroat trout, WarnerCreek sucker, Lost River sucker and Colorado pike minnow. Officials at El Pasosaid that a conservation agreement drafted by a number of parties to protectsage grouse habitat and purchase grazing leases is enough mitigation to offsetthe project’s effects in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California.

RyanReynolds (of Van Wilder, Mr. Scarlett Johansson Fame) Applies Just a Bit Too MuchBronzer (Made from Oil) to Cut "PSA" Ad for NRDC Targeting … Oil. Politico(8/19) reports, "He may be best known for his six-pack abs, for his roster ofrom-coms or as Mr. Scarlett Johansson, but Ryan Reynolds is also speaking upfor battling climate change. The actor spent the summer in New Orleans filmingaction flick "The Green Lantern" and was moved to make a statement after flyingover the Deepwater Horizon site. He teamed up with the Natural ResourcesDefense Council to create a short video urging viewers to remember the BP oilspill and ask the Senate to continue fighting climate change. "What’s the priceof a gallon of gas?" asks Reynolds, with images of the spill flashing on thescreen. "It’s one thing here in Louisiana, it’s another in the tar sands ofAlberta and it’s something else in the skies over Los Angeles." All thoselocales are of course close to Reynolds’ heart as he is a Canadian residing inL.A.   Reynolds (who seems tobe wearing a touch too much man bronzer in the video) is among a handful ofcelebs who have joined forces with the NRDC, including Sigourney Weaver, whoblogged about the NRDC’s film "Acid Test" in July.

WarmBoot: In Fitting Eulogy to Cap-and-Raid, White House Quietly Removes AllReferences to Policy on Energy and Environment Website – Like It NeverHappened. E&E News (8/19,subs. req’d) reports, "The White House has recently revised its energy andenvironment website, stripping references to a cap-and-trade program forgreenhouse gases and a pledge to funnel $150 billion into clean energyresearch. Gone from the site is a section titled "Closing the CarbonLoophole and Cracking Down on Polluters." The website had pledged to"finally close the carbon pollution loophole" by stemming emissionsthrough a market-based cap, according to a version obtained by Jesse Jenkins ofthe Breakthrough Institute, but the updated version omits any mention of capand trade. The changes were likely made on June 23, according to Peter Bray,co-founder of Versionista, a company that tracks changes to websites. SenateDemocrats continued a last-minute push for a sweeping climate and energy billthroughout June, but prospects for passage appeared grim and Senate MajorityLeader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) punted on an energy and climate bill in late July.The updated site also omits a pledge from President Obama to invest $150billion in clean energy research and development over 10 years. That may bebecause the White House won’t have a way to fund the commitment; Obama’s 2010budget slated $120 billion from cap-and-trade climate revenue toward cleanenergy technologies. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

FriendsLike These: Not a Single Democrat Shows Up in Support of Markey’s Latest ShowHearing on Gulf – Dude Sat on the Dais Yesterday All By His Lonesome. TheHill (8/19) reports, "Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is a one-man show atThursday’s oil spill hearing hosted by the House Energy and Commercesubcommittee he chairs. No other members of either party in his Energy andEnvironment Subcommittee or the full Energy and Commerce Committee is attendingthe hearing. The hearing features administration officials, ocean experts andseafood-industry representatives testifying about the amount of oil thatremains to be cleaned up in the Gulf of Mexico and about the quality of theseafood in the region. Markey noted the absence of his colleagues at the startof the hearing. "We appreciate the fact that it is the middle of the summer. Weknow that many people have gone away," Markey said in his opening statement. "However,the oil has not gone away, and it is important for the Gulf of Mexico residentsto know that the attention on this issue has not gone away. That is why we arehaving this hearing today." Officials representing the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Food and DrugAdministration are defending their assessments that seafood from the Gulf isgenerally safe to eat despite the spill and will update how much oil is left tobe cleaned up.

CA"Clean Tech" Investors Know that Unlimited Access to Other Folks’ Money Is theOnly Way to Profit – "Invest" Millions in Fighting Grassroots CampaignTargeting A.B. 32.  Bloomberg(8/20) reports, "California’s clean energy investors are raising millions ofdollars for an advertising battle with oil refiners who want to delay the state’snew law on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The campaign, supported byinvestors such as Tom Steyer, founder of San Francisco-based hedge fundFarallon Capital Management LLC, aims to convince residents to vote against theso-called Proposition 23 when it comes up for approval in November. Theproposal, backed by the oil industry, would delay laws to begin regulating thestate’s carbon emissions in 2012. California’s Global Warming Solutions Act,signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2006, requires the state cutoutput of greenhouse gases linked to climate change to their 1990 levels by2020. The state will introduce a cap-and-trade program to put a price on carbonemissions and trade pollution rights. "It would be a big setback for cleanenergy in the U.S. if California’s climate-change law is overturned," KevinParker, the global head of asset management for Deutsche Bank AG, said in atelephone interview. If the most populous state backs away, it would give otherstates and the federal government "a free pass to do nothing" on curbinggreenhouse gases, said Parker, who oversees about $7 billion to $7.5 billion inclimate change related investments as part of about $700 billion in funds.

EtTu, Jane? 3 Months Ago, Greens Loved Them Some Jane Lubchenco; But Now NOAAChief Says Most of Oil is Gone from Gulf, and So She Must Pay. Politico (8/19)reports, "The Obama administration isn’t backing down on the declaration thatonly 25 percent of spilled oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico in the face ofcriticism from scientists, lawmakers and environmentalists. While the Aug. 4announcements from the White House briefing room and morning news shows drewpositive headlines, they have put officials in the uncomfortable position ofdefending a view of the spill that some say is far rosier than the picture inthe water. Administration officials say they are damned if they do, and damnedif they don’t, when it comes to releasing information from one point in time inthe midst of a fluid situation. "Folks are seriously now saying we shouldn’t have told people whatwe knew. We disagree," one official told POLITICO, noting the White Housewas criticized earlier this summer when it didn’t update the flow rate andother information immediately. "We’re comfortable with our numbers and aswe continue to learn more about what’s happening below the surface andelsewhere, we will build that into our estimate," Jane Lubchenco, thechief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said on ahastily-organized call with reporters Thursday.

Here’sHow You Know These Guys Are Serious: One Shell Platform in the Gulf Cost Moreto Engineer (Three Times More, Actually) than NASA’s Mars Pathfinder. NPR(8/18) reports, "New technology has changed oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexicotoo. As seen in the wake of BP’s blown-out well in the Gulf, companies havesophisticated technology like remote-controlled submarines. That means they canexplore for oil in places humans can’t even go. Sometimes the projects resemblea space mission. "The space program and the offshore industry have longshared technologies and learned from each other," says Tyler Priest,professor of global studies at the University of Houston. In 1996 NASA launcheda probe to Mars, and that same year Shell launched a drilling platform in 3,000feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico. "The difference being that Shell’splatform cost more than three times as much as NASA’s Mars Pathfinder, and arguablyinvolved more sophisticated technology and more sophisticated remoteengineering," Priest says. Now companies are drilling in 10,000 feet ofwater. "The fact that you can count on one hand the kind of blowouts thathave occurred in the face of these tens of thousands of wells is a prettyremarkable testimony to the safety and the risk management that the companiesprovide," Hofmeister says.

Centerfor Biological Diversity Has Two Departments In Its Office: One Files LawsuitsAll Day Long; The Other Issues Snarky Quotes to Politico and E&E Reporters. E&E News (8/19,subs. req’d) reports, "An environmental group asked a federal court today tostop construction of a 677-mile natural gas pipeline that would link producersin the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Northwest and California. The Center forBiological Diversity filed a motion for an injunction in the 9th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appeals here, asking for a temporary stay that would stop Ruby PipelineLLC, a subsidiary of El Paso Corp., from proceeding. The group has also filed alawsuit to halt the pipeline separate from the injunction attempt. El Paso hasignored the legal challenge and broke ground on the project earlier this month.A corporate spokesman reached in Houston said the company has no plans to stopand is proceeding as planned. The center in its lawsuit argues that federalpermits from BLM and an endangered species analysis from the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service are flawed. Noah Greenwald said the pipeline would jeopardizea number of endangered fish, including the Lahontan cutthroat trout, WarnerCreek sucker, Lost River sucker and Colorado pike minnow. Officials at El Pasosaid that a conservation agreement drafted by a number of parties to protectsage grouse habitat and purchase grazing leases is enough mitigation to offsetthe project’s effects in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California.

RyanReynolds (of Van Wilder, Mr. Scarlett Johansson Fame) Applies Just a Bit Too MuchBronzer (Made from Oil) to Cut "PSA" Ad for NRDC Targeting … Oil. Politico(8/19) reports, "He may be best known for his six-pack abs, for his roster ofrom-coms or as Mr. Scarlett Johansson, but Ryan Reynolds is also speaking upfor battling climate change. The actor spent the summer in New Orleans filmingaction flick "The Green Lantern" and was moved to make a statement after flyingover the Deepwater Horizon site. He teamed up with the Natural ResourcesDefense Council to create a short video urging viewers to remember the BP oilspill and ask the Senate to continue fighting climate change. "What’s the priceof a gallon of gas?" asks Reynolds, with images of the spill flashing on thescreen. "It’s one thing here in Louisiana, it’s another in the tar sands ofAlberta and it’s something else in the skies over Los Angeles." All thoselocales are of course close to Reynolds’ heart as he is a Canadian residing inL.A.   Reynolds (who seems tobe wearing a touch too much man bronzer in the video) is among a handful ofcelebs who have joined forces with the NRDC, including Sigourney Weaver, whoblogged about the NRDC’s film "Acid Test" in July.

Ragin’Cajun: Landrieu Calls President’s Decision to Institute Blanket Ban on GulfExploration – And Then Fight to Keep It There – "Uninformed," "Reckless." TheHill (8/17) reports, "Senate Small Business chair Mary Landrieu(D-La.) on Tuesday sharply criticized President Obama’s reaction to the oilspill in the Gulf by halting nearly all drilling activity in the area. "Thedecision to stop virtually all new energy exploration in the Gulf of Mexico wasuninformed and in my view borders on reckless," she said in openingremarks at a field hearing on the moratorium’s affect on the local economy."Today, thousands of Gulf Coast businesses are fighting their way out ofthis government imposed economic disaster that only threatens jobs andbusinesses," she said, adding the moratorium has "substantially reducedthe total amount of economic activity taking place along" the Gulf Coast.The senator warned the president’s decision has made the U.S. more dependent offoreign sources of oil since the country continues to consume 20 millionbarrels of oil a day. "[The] U.S. will necessarily increase its oilimports from other countries with far weaker environmental standards andregulatory regimes, such as Nigeria, Angola, and Venezuela," she said."The record shows that these countries suffer significantly more spills ata much, much more frequent rate, causing more harm to the oceans of theworld."

SomethingRotten: Danish Wind Mill Maker, World’s Largest, Loses 30% of Its Value in aSingle Quarter – Three Guesses Who They’re Blaming for That! Bloomberg(8/18) reports, "Vestas, the world’s largest wind-turbine maker, lost more thana quarter of its value in Copenhagen trading after it reported a larger-than-expected loss and cut forecasts, blaming delayed orders.  The stock dropped the most sinceOctober 2008 after Danish company posted a second-quarter loss of 119 millioneuros ($153 million), exceeding the average estimate of a 7.3 million-euro lossin a survey of 15 analysts.  "Rightnow it’s just a shock, and Vestas has suffered a serious blow to itscredibility," Teea Reijonen, a London-based analyst with Royal Bank of ScotlandGroup Plc, said today. "Analysts are going to take a very dim view of marginsfor 2011 given what’s happened this year." Reijonen had a "hold" rating on theshares before today.  Vestas cutits sales forecast for this year to 6 billion euros from 7 billion euros ondelays in expected orders in the U.S., Spain and Germany. The credit crisis hasprompted banks to restrict loans to wind-park developers that buy turbines fromVestas and competitors including Germany’s Siemens AG, Gamesa Corp. TecnologicaSA and General Electric Co. "We were maybe too optimistic on what we expectedwe could execute in the second half of 2010," Vestas Chief Executive OfficerDitlev Engel said today.

FunnyThing About NOx and SOx Emissions from Coal Plants: Declined Another 36% ThisYear; Here’s the Funnier Thing: Had Nothing to Do with "Cap-and-Trade" Program.Greenwire (8/17, subs.req’d) reports, "Coal-fired power plants have continued to cut their soot- andsmog-forming emissions this year, according to newly released estimates fromU.S. EPA.Emissions data for the first two quarters of 2010 show declines intotal emissions as well as emissions intensity — the amount of pollutionproduced per unit of electricity. The roughly 850 coal-fired power plantsregulated under EPA’s existing Acid Rain Program emitted 2.5 million tons ofsulfur dioxide during the first two quarters of this year, a 36 percentdecrease from the 3.9 million tons they released during the first two quartersof 2008. Emissions of nitrogen oxides fell from 1.5 million tons to 930,000tons, a 37 percent decrease. EPA said the new figures should ease worries aboutpossible increases in SO2 emissions while the agency prepares to replace theClean Air Interstate Rule.  As aresult, SO2 prices have continued to fall, leading traders and some utilitiesto ask Congress to intervene. Without an incentive to hold on to bankedallowances, they say, power plants will not install new controls. "Themarket has said, ‘We get the message, these allowances are worthless,’"said Thaddeus Huetteman, chairman of the Environmental Markets Association

Let’sTalk About that Cap-and-Trade Bit on NOx and SOx – Some Folks Like to CompareIt to Cap-and-Raid for CO2 – Here’s Why They’re Wrong. Marlo Lewis writes (8/17) for MasterResource.org,"However successful the SO2 trading program may have been, it is a dubiousmodel for climate policy, because SO2 and CO2 are different. Utilitiesparticipating in the SO2 emissions trading program could meet all or part oftheir obligations by purchasing low-sulfur coal and/or installing scrubbers, acommercially-proven emission control technology. In contrast, as Kenneth Green,Steven Hayward, and Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute pointout, there is no low-carbon coal, and no commercial technology to "scrub"carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions out of power plant exhaust streams. Thus, unlikean SO2 trading program, a carbon cap-and-trade program has a high potential tobecome a job-killing energy-rationing scheme. The greater economic risk ofcarbon cap-and-trade schemes derives from another key difference as well.Unlike sulfur, which is an impurity in coal and oil, carbon is intrinsic to thechemistry of fossil fuels. Consequently, whereas capping SO2 does not logicallyentail an unlimited agenda aiming at the abolition of fossil fuels, capping CO2does imply total suppression as an ultimate objective.

TheWorld Is Not Enough: EPA Announces Plan for Regulating Economic Activity OutsideUS Jurisdiction – "Pollution Doesn’t End at the Border, Neither Can OurProtections." E&E News (8/17,subs. req’d) reports, "U.S. EPA will focus on six major internationalpriorities, including climate change and electronic waste, Administrator LisaJackson told environmental officials from the United States, Canada and Mexicoduring a summit yesterday. Announced during a meeting of the Commission forEnvironmental Cooperation in Guanajuato, Mexico, the goals were outlined in amemo to EPA employees yesterday. They are: building strong environmentalinstitutions and legal structures, combating climate change by limitingpollutants, improving air quality, expanding access to clean water, reducing exposureto toxic chemicals and cleaning up e-waste. The agency is committed tointernational work "at a time when our challenges are no longer local oreven national, but global," Jackson told an audience that includedCanadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Mexican Environment SecretaryJuan Elvira Quesada. "Pollution doesn’t stop at international borders, andneither can our environmental and health protections," Jackson said in astatement. "This document sends a strong message to our partners in theinternational community that our challenges are shared challenges, and that weare eager to work together on solutions."

Here’sHow Angry Al Gore Is that Congress Didn’t Pass Cap-and-Raid: He’s So Angry, HeFiled a Post on His Blog Today Calling on Other Folks to Do a Rally. TheHill (8/17) reports, "Former Vice President Gore is calling for majorrallies to protest congressional inaction on climate change. In a post on hispersonal blog headlined "The Movement We Need," Gore linked to and quoted froman Australian wire service report that "tens of thousands of protesters … havetaken to the streets across Australia to urge the major political parties totake action on climate change." "Across the world, when politicians fail totake action to solve the climate crisis, people are taking action," Gore wrote.He added after excerpting the news report: "It is my hope we see activism likethis here in the United States." Gore noted he trained activists in Australiato deliver the slideshow that formed the basis for the documentary film thatwon him an Academy Award. A representative of Gore’s Alliance for ClimateProtection addressed the rally in Sydney. Gore has in recent weeks stepped uphis criticism of the Senate for its inability to pass a comprehensive energyand climate bill that would put a price on carbon. In a conference call withenvironmental activists last week, he reportedly said "the United Statesgovernment in its entirety, largely because of the opposition in the UnitedStates Senate to taking action on clean energy and a solution to the climatecrisis, has failed us."

GunControl Ain’t About Guns, As They Say – It’s About Control; So It Is with theEnvironmental Movement: Not About the Environment, Just About Moving Your Jobto China. Robert J. Walker,former president of Handgun Control, Inc., writes on Grist.org,"Supporters of climate-change legislation have much to learn from anorganization that is often rated as the most powerful lobby in Washington: theNational Rifle Association. Don’t fear to be feared.  Progressive groups, including many supporters ofclimate-change legislation, love to be loved.  The gun lobby doesn’t care if you don’t like it, so long asyou fear it.  The NRA, the mostpowerful lobby in Washington, is one of the most reviled.  Many members of Congress, even pro-gunmembers, privately bristle at the tactics of the NRA, but that doesn’t stopthem from voting in lockstep with the gun lobby. Don’t get mad, get even.  Bruised, scarred, and brushed aside, noone could blame supporters of climate-change legislation for being angry at apolitical process that has stymied action on an issue of such greatimport.  When I worked on gunissues, I ran into a lot of activists, particularly the victims and survivorsof gun violence, who were incensed at Congress for its failure to adoptsensible gun laws.  The key was tochannel that anger and frustration into constructive action, and we did thatwith the passage of the Brady Law and the federal assault-weapons ban.

Meanwhile,Back in the Parts of the World that Actually Produce Energy: Massive Deepwater FindsOff the Coast of Australia – This Time, for Natural Gas. WallStreet Journal (8/18) reports, "Three significant deepwater gas discoveriesoff the west coast of Australia announced this week by Chevron Corp. andWoodside Petroleum Ltd. could add momentum to the nation’s emergence as a topnatural gas exporter.  Chevron onMonday said its Acme well, about 150 kilometers off the coast of WesternAustralia state, encountered a net gas pay of 896 feet, making it "one ofour most significant natural-gas discoveries in Australia." It was one ofnine discoveries by Chevron in the area since August 2009 and twice the size ofits next biggest discovery there. The news came as Perth-based Woodside said the Larsen Deep-1 andAlaris-1 wells struck material amounts of gas. Larsen Deep-1 is owned in ajoint venture with Hess Corp. A projected surge in demand for cleaner-burningfuels from developing Asian economies is prompting energy companies to investbillions of dollars on exploration campaigns and large-scale gas exportprojects. Australia’s stable political environment, substantial gas reservesand proximity to Asia make it an attractive place to invest, particularly withU.S. gas prices kept low by ballooning domestic supplies.

ReadingNYT’s Interview of Massey’s Blankenship Is Like Reading Tocqueville’s DemocracyIn America – Dude Can’t Believe Something Like This Even Exists! NYTimes (8/17) reports, "As energy executives go, few manage to stircontroversy and elicit vitriol from environmentalists with as much relish asDon L. Blankenship, the mustachioed chief executive of Massey Energy, one ofthe largest coal companies in Appalachia. Massey was the company involved in adeadly explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine earlier this year, it is alsodrawing fire for its plans to surface-mine a West Virginia mountaintop thatactivists in the area, realistically or not, would rather see turned into awind farm. In a lengthy interview, Mr. Blankenship was characteristicallyunreserved in explaining why he sees this idea – along with global warming andopposition to destructive mountaintop-removal mining techniques – as absurd. "Somepeople believe in CO2 so strongly it trumps every other thought that they’vegot, so we wouldn’t expect them to favor coal mining," Mr. Blankenship said. "Somepeople believe that the country should be socialized so they are opposed tofree enterprise. I mean, you have to have your own beliefs, your own corebeliefs, your own strengths and do what you think is right. You can’t do whatothers believe is right, you have to do what you believe is right."

Know Your Audience: Obama VeryCareful on Where Drops a Line for Cap-and-Raid During Trip Out West – Waits ‘Til$1 Million Fundraiser in Los Angeles to Let ‘Er Rip. LATimes (8/17) reports, "Onlookers lined Olympic Boulevard, snappingcellphone photos. One person held a small sign declaring, "We needjobs." "I was an Obama supporter, but … was stopped by police fromcrossing Olympic to get home … during my daily dog walk," Amy Christinesaid on the website. "I’ve lost all belief in his judgment. Can he reallythink he’s more important than the tens of thousands of people trying to gethome to their families?" Obama told the crowd that he and congressionalDemocrats, through the economic stimulus measure, had "made the biggestinvestments in clean energy in our history – building solar panels and windturbines and advanced batteries." Reaching out to Republicans – andevoking his message at a stop he made earlier in the day – Obama said, "Onenergy, we’re willing to compromise on a whole bunch of issues, but we’ve gotto have a strategy that starts to limit carbon, because we want thoseclean-energy jobs here in the United States. Not in China. Not in Germany."On his way west, the president visited Wisconsin, where he told workers at ZBBEnergy Corp. that his administration had helped jump-start "a homegrownclean-energy industry." At the Los Angeles fundraiser, Obama called foremissions limits – the first time he had mentioned them all day.

Fake It ‘Til You Make It (Up):President Just Pulling Numbers Out of the Ether at This Point – Says Green JobsStimulus Cash will Create 800,000 New Jobs (!) in 18 Months. ABCNews (8/16) reports, "Speaking at advanced battery and electricity storageplant outside Milwaukee, President Obama to push his administration’scommitment to a "homegrown clean-energy industry" to jumpstart manufacturingand create jobs. "For years, we’ve heard about manufacturing jobs disappearingoverseas. Well, companies like this are showing us how manufacturing can comeback right here in the United States of America, right back here to Wisconsin,"Obama said at ZBB Energy Corporation in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.  The White House said that ZBB Energy isexpanding its battery production through a $1.3 million Recovery Act loan. Theloan will help fund a factory renovation that the company says will triple itsmanufacturing capacity, help retain several dozen workers and allow it to hire80 new workers. Obama said that the new commitment to clean energy could leadto more than 800,000 new jobs by 2012. "That’s not just creating work in the short term; that’s going to helplay the foundation for lasting economic growth," he said. 

Meanwhile, Investment BankersWho Had Banked on Guaranteed Prices, Markets Thanks to Cap-and-Raid DownrightPetulant Over Congress’s "Inaction" on Artifiically Pricing Carbon. Reuters(8/17) reports, "Alternative energy investment prospects have shriveled in theUnited States after the U.S. Senate was unable to break a deadlock overtackling global warming, a Deutsche Bank official said. "You just throwyour hands up and say … we’re going to take our money elsewhere," saidKevin Parker in an interview with Reuters. Parker, who is global head of theFrankfurt-based bank’s Deutsche Asset Management Division, oversees nearly $700billion in funds that devote $6 billion to $7 billion to climate changeproducts. Amid so much political uncertainty in the United States, Parker saidDeutsche Bank will focus its "green" investment dollars more and moreon opportunities in China and Western Europe, where it sees governmentsproviding a more positive environment. "They’re asleep at the wheel onclimate change, asleep at the wheel on job growth, asleep at the wheel on thisindustrial revolution taking place in the energy industry," Parker said ofWashington’s inability to seal a climate-change program and other alternativeenergy incentives into place. Besides failing to set a policy dealing with climatechange, Parker also complained that on-again, off-again tax incentives forrenewable energy contributes to the poor outlook for investment in the UnitedStates.

Interior Dept. Doubles Down onOffshore Assault – Will Require New EIS and NEPA’s Every Time Someone Throws aDip In Offshore From Now On. E&E News (8/16,subs. req’d) reports, "Full environmental assessments will be required for allnew deepwater drilling, the Interior Department announced today. The move comesas a new federal report outlines flaws in the government’s process in approvingthe well that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The department will curtailthe use of a provision it had been employing to streamline offshore drillingapplications, including the BP PLC well. For deepwater drilling, the departmentwill no longer use "categorical exclusions," which allowed it toapprove projects without preparing new environmental analyses that wouldnormally be required by the National Environmental Policy Act. A new WhiteHouse Council on Environmental Quality report says the categorical exclusionsused to approve the BP plans were established in 1981 and 1986, long beforedeepwater drilling became widespread. The decision also will affect newdrilling closer to shore. All shallow-water plans will require acategorical-exclusion review to examine whether any factors would trigger anenvironmental assessment — such as the use of unusual technology or a locationnear biologically sensitive areas — and whether the plan’s worst-case spillvolume is greater than accounted for in oil spill response plans.

Lehman, PA’s About as Rural AsIt Gets – Folks Out There Love Their Land, Love Their Country, and Love ThemSome Marcellus Shale Exploration As Well. Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) TimesLeader (8/17) reports, "Despite negative feedback in recent months fromanti-"fracking" groups concerning Marcellus Shale gas drilling, supervisors onMonday night expressed their support for the industry, as did several townshipresidents. Fracking refers to the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing,which uses water and chemicals under pressure to liberate natural gas from theshale deposits. Many have expressed concern that the process could impactdrinking water wells. Carl Kern, who owns trucks that service drillers inBradford County, said the public should listen to the positive side of drillinginstead of the protest.  Forexample, he said the companies are maintaining the roads they use. In LehmanTownship, if a road repair is necessary, the supervisors can call the companyand it will fix it, he said. Board Chairman Dave Sutton concurred, adding thatif the township must repair a road in an emergency situation, it will bereimbursed by the drillers. "It’s nice to hear something positive," Suttonsaid. Kern discussed his support with state Sen. Lisa Baker and believes she isdoing what she can to ensure the drilling "is done right."

EPA Jumps the Shark (Again):Agency Gets Set to Issue New CAFE Rules for Huge Industrial Work Trucks – Can’tWait to See What a Hybrid Caterpillar Looks Like. Greenwire (8/16, subs.req’d) reports, "The Obama administration is preparing to issue new fueleconomy standards and the first-ever greenhouse gas limits for large trucks andbuses. U.S. EPA and the Transportation Department sent draft rules Friday tothe White House regulatory review office that would limit heavy-duty vehicles’emissions under the Clean Air Act and boost fuel economy standards for medium-and heavy-duty trucks, according to a federal website that tracks new rules.President Obama announced the latest initiative during a Rose Garden speech inMay, where he directed officials at EPA and DOT to expand on a joint rulemakingfinalized earlier this year for cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2012through 2016. Obama issued a memorandum directing the agencies to expand theprogram to include medium- and heavy-duty trucks for model years 2014 through2018. "While the federal government and many states have now created aharmonized framework for addressing the fuel economy of and greenhouse gasemissions from cars and light-duty trucks, medium- and heavy-duty trucks andbuses continue to be a major source of fossil fuel consumption and greenhousegas pollution," Obama wrote in the memo.

Sierra Club Chooses College inVermont as "Greenest University" — For the 321^st Consecutive YearThat the Survey Has Been Around. SierraMagazine, the Club’s monthly rag (8/16), writes, "Green Mountain College;Poultney, VT | Score: 88.6; GMC excels in most categories, and it’s the MVPwhen it comes to creativity. The campus gets power and heat from biomass andbiogas (a.k.a. cow power) and plans to be carbon-neutral by next year.Intercollegiate rivalry is a long and hallowed tradition. That was theoperating premise, anyway, behind our fourth annual Coolest Schools survey. Wesent out 11-page questionnaires to 900 colleges and universities across theUnited States, asking them to detail their sustainability efforts. We received162 responses, nearly all of them painstakingly thorough. Justin Mog, who workson sustainability initiatives at Kentucky’s University of Louisville, was oneof several respondents who confirmed our original idea, thanking us for"keeping up the competitive pressure on universities to push thesustainability envelope." Although we worked hard to apply rigorous,objective standards when evaluating the questionnaires, a certain amount ofsubjectivity was inevitable, and we hope that readers (and the growing legionof college sustainability officers) will bear that in mind. The point, afterall, is to create competition, to generate awareness, and to celebrate that somany colleges even have a sustainability officer.

"Changingthe Color of the Getaway Car": WH Denies It’s Trying to End Gulf Drilling -While At Same Time Instructing Its Interior Dept. to Withhold Permits for NewActivity. FOXNews (8/11) reports, "With the Obama administration returning to federalcourt to defend its six-month suspension of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico,industry executives and analysts claimed the ban was more stringent thanoriginally believed, and exerting a greater impact on the lives and livelihoodsof Gulf Coast residents. "They’re painting the getaway car a different color,"said Dan V. Kish, senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research in Washington.  Kish said the original moratoriumapplied only to drilling rigs operating in 500 feet of water or deeper, butthat the July 12 order by Salazar applies to all floating rigs in the Gulf.What’s more, Kish said there are effectively two moratoria in place: the formalone, targeting deepwater drilling, and an informal one targeting shallow-waterdrilling operations.  "About halfof the rigs in the shallow waters of the Gulf are not operating," said Kish, "becausethey can’t get permits from the government agency that is supposed to give thempermits.  So, in essence, what’shappening is that much of the fleet of deep- and shallow-water rigs in the Gulfof Mexico, which supplies a third of our domestic oil, are being laid up, putin cold storage, awaiting the government to make a decision one way or theother."

Don’tMess: Republic of Texas Jumps Foursquare Into Offshore Ban Debate; Files Suitin Federal Court Demanding This Monstrosity Be Lifted – For Real. HoustonChronicle (8/11) reports, "The state of Texas has filed suit against thefederal ban on offshore drilling, saying the move violates a law requiringofficials to consult with the states on such matters first. The law, the OuterContinental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), requires the Interior Secretary tocoordinate with states that might be affected by drilling decisions beforetaking any actions and to weigh the economic impact of actions such as the banbefore imposing them.  TheDepartment of the Interior imposed the ban earlier this year, in reaction tothe massive oil spill that followed a blowout of a BP oil well in the Gulf ofMexico. The administration withdrew it when a federal judge in New Orleansblocked the effort and a number of companies filed suit. But on July 12 the DOIre-imposed the ban with some changes. "The federal government ignored theState of Texas and failed to comply with the law when the Secretary of theInterior unilaterally imposed the Administration’s offshore drilling ban,"Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement. "Under federal law,affected states are guaranteed the right to participate in offshoredrilling-related policy decisions, but the Obama Administration did not botherto communicate, coordinate or cooperate with Texas." An economicimpact analysis done by Louisiana State University says Texas will suffer a$622 million decrease in Gross State Product due to the six-month moratorium,meaning the state meets the statutory definition of an "affectedstate" under the OCSLA and should be consulted, the filing says.

FollowUs on This: Enviros Want BP to Pay $20 Billion (and More) to All Who Ask – ButDon’t Want BP to Produce the Energy Needed to Generate those Funds. TheHill (8/11) reports, "Environmentalists are attacking potential White Houseplans to use money from BP’s future Gulf of Mexico production as collateral forthe $20 billion oil spill claims fund, fearing it would make the government acheerleader for wider drilling. "We haveserious concerns. We think it would incentivize new drilling by BP in the Gulf,"said Beth Lowell, federal policy director for Oceana. "It is outlandishthat we would encourage them to do the same thing that got them into this messin the first place." "Under the latest negotiations, BP would use productionpayments from its producing Gulf wells as collateral for the fund and wouldprovide quarterly production updates to the government. The collateralrequirements would be reduced as BP pays money into the fund," the Journalreported, citing an administration official who called it an "option." TheNatural Resources Defense Council is also criticizing the idea. "We do need BPto remain solvent to fund the escrow account, but what the Journal reports is abad idea which will, if implemented, cast a shadow on the legitimacy of futureregulatory activity in the Gulf by the Bureau of Ocean Energy (formerly theMinerals Management Service), NOAA, and every other federal agency charged withwatching over BP’s Gulf operations," said NRDC’s David Pettit in a blog postTuesday.

PreviouslyContent to Spend Millions Attacking Job-Creators Along Coasts, Hard CoreEnviros Turn Their Attention to Coal Producers in Intermountain West. DowJones/Wall Street Journal (8/11) reports, "Western U.S. coal producers areincreasingly coming under fire by environmental groups that see a chance tofight climate change by curbing output from the nation’s largest coal basin.For years environmentalists have lobbied for tougher limits on the emissions ofheat-trapping gases blamed for climate change from power plants, vehicles andother direct sources. But the collapse of federal climate-change legislation inrecent weeks and growth of coal exports to Asia is leading some groups to lookpast the smoke stacks and aim to quash emissions by stymieing production offuel. Environmental groups have found some success curbing eastern coalproduction, particularly from mountaintop-removal mining in Appalachia. WesternU.S. coal production has largely stayed out of the spotlight, but this ischanging as environment advocates begin to zero in on the new leases andgrowing exports of Powder River Basin coal to Asia from the U.S. West Coast.Exports are a particular concern because the sale of U.S. coal overseasundercuts domestic effort to reduce emissions and weakens internationalcooperation on climate change, environmental groups say.  "That is a very serious line inthe sand," said Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond CoalCampaign, of efforts by Western U.S. miners to grown Asian exports.

HowPerverse Is Their Obsession to Destroy Coal? Enviros Actively Oppose Efforts toCapture and Store Carbon Emitted by Coal – Makes for a Better Fundraising Letter. ClimateWire (8/11,subs. req’d) reports, "George Peridas, who has been pushing California’sinterest in decarbonization efforts for the Natural Resources Defense Council,explained at the symposium that the state’s powerful environmental groups aresplit on the issue of CCS. Some worry that the technology will detract fromfurther efforts to promote renewable energy; others are mainly focused on fighting the coal industry. He agreeswith Benson that if California is going to succeed in taking most of the carbonout of its energy system, CCS technology will be needed. "Pioneer projectslike HECA are very important," he said in an interview. "Althoughthis isn’t one of our favorite climate solutions, it is one of those that isneeded. It helps move the ball forward in getting CCS deployed." Peridasis concerned that while California is leading the nation by imposing a cap oncarbon emissions, it has fallen behind other states and the federal governmentsin drafting regulations for carbon capture and storage. In theory, a plant suchas HECA should get benefits under a cap-and-trade system, if it has loweremissions than a natural gas-fired power plant. "They might get excesscredits to sell, but the framework for this has yet to be worked out."Mark Brownstein, deputy director of energy programs for the EnvironmentalDefense Fund, agreed. He said the "simple fact is that it [coal] is goingto be with us for quite a while. Phasing out of coal may take 50 to 100 yearsto do."

Stopthe Presses: New Report Finds EPA Not Capable of Brining In the Best People toDo The Jobs They Need – Like Destroying Our Economy. E&E News (8/11,subs. req’d) reports, "U.S. EPA suffers from a hiring process that fails toplace the right candidates in the right positions, a recent report from theagency’s inspector general found. The 37-page report analyzed the consolidationof EPA’s hiring services into three centers in North Carolina, Ohio and Nevada.Without sufficient technology investments or staffing plans, the servicecenters have failed to meet expectations, the report found. "Servicecenters did not consistently provide program managers with the best candidates,and data quality and recruitment action processes need improvement," IGinvestigators wrote. "As a result, the appointment process is notproviding program offices with the right people, in the right place, at theright time, thus impacting EPA’s ability to effectively perform itsmission." EPA now takes an average of 141 days to fill vacant positions –far above the Office of Personnel Management’s government-wide goal of 80 days.And because the agency has not implemented a complete electronic work flowsystem, employees are filling positions using a mixture of electronic and paperforms. The report describes one instance where a missing page in an applicationled to 27 days of e-mails to resolve the problem. IG officials also found thatemployees at the service centers are not as experienced "asexpected," leading to further delays and increased training.

WSJDetails How Iran’s Once Buoyant Plans to Develop OPEC-Style Cartel for NaturalGas Have Fallen By Wayside – Shale Gas, We’re Looking At You.  WallStreet Journal (8/12) reports, "Iran’s LNG plans have been key to Tehran’slong-term goal of diversifying away from its aging oil fields as a source ofexport revenue. In interviews with the Iranian oil ministry website, Shana,published Saturday and Monday, top Iranian oil officials said they wouldsuspend the Persian LNG and Pars LNG projects. Both were being developed to takeadvantage of gas from one of the world’s largest gas fields, which Iran callsSouth Pars and shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf. In the Saturdayinterview, Ahmed Ghalebani, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Co.,didn’t cite sanctions as a reason for the suspension. He said the nationalenergy company was scrapping some LNG projects because they were too costly andcomplex. Iran would instead build more pipelines, he said.  Iran’s decision-making could have beeninfluenced in part by the current cyclical glut in the LNG market, which hasdepressed prices in various parts of the world. But one Iranian gas officialfamiliar with the projects said the most recent round of sanctions enacted bythe EU, some of which target Iran’s energy sector, played a role. Mr. Ghalebanisaid the country wouldn’t abandon LNG projects altogether. Another largeproject, Iran LNG, is nearing completion and is expected to go online in 2012.

NowWe See: With Passing of Peak Oilers’ Top Exponent, How Will the ConspiracyTheory Fare in a World of Near-Daily (Massive) Energy Discoveries? WallStreet Journal (8/9) reports, "But Simmons helped to being the peak oiltheory to the mass media, after traveling to Saudi Arabia in 2003 to researchthat nation’s secretive data on oil reserves, or the amount of oil able to bepumped out of the ground. His book became an instant classic among conspiracytheorists. Simmons was back in the limelight this spring when BP oil’s rig inthe Gulf of Mexico exploded. He went out on a limb (his critics say too farout) by predicting in June that the spill would cause BP to go bankrupt andthat "if a hurricane comes and blows this to shore, it could paint the GulfCoast black." In recent weeks, BP has capped the leak and independentscientists have found that environment damage from the spill has been less thaninitially feared. (Simmons supported offshore oil drilling in 2008, but saidAmericans need to change their energy-consumption habits because even offshoresources wouldn’t produce enough oil to sustain world demand.)  Peak oil remains hotly contested andthe information about reserves from less than forthcoming from such oil-richnations as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria is incomplete, to say the least.Regardless, peak oil has lost one of its most eloquent adherents.

GoodNews, Everyone (Who Lives in Georgetown): New Fancy Light Bulbs Mandated byCongress Now Only Cost $20 a Piece, Down from $30 Last Year. NYTimes (8/11) reports, "This week, Home Depot fired a new marketing salvo inwhat is expected to be a broader national effort to get home customers to adoptLED lighting. A 40-watt-equivalent bulb sold online at Home Depot. The retailgiant began selling one of the light bulbs in its highly energy-efficientlineup at a surprisingly affordable price of just under $20 online.Bricks-and-mortar stores will follow in September. While $20 hardly sounds likea deal at first blush, such bulbs are expected to last as long as 30 years. Notlong ago, such bulbs were not expected by most experts to cost less than $30until 2012. That’s the year, of course, when a federal law takes effectrequiring that all bulbs sold in the United States be 30 percent more efficientthan current incandescent bulbs. Even with improvements, incandescent bulbs arenot expected to meet those standards, so many manufacturers are working onpushing their LED bulbs. Unlike compact florescent bulbs, which have beenunpopular with consumers because of the pallid light they cast, some newer LEDbulbs are closer to the warmth and brightness of the regular incandescent. HomeDepot says it is actively encouraging consumers to compare.

Fmr.Sen. Ted Stevens Remembered as Indefatigable Proponent and Exponent ofAffordable, Reliable, American Energy.TheHill (8/10) reports, "American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard onTuesday joined the list of people expressing sadness over the death of formerAlaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) in a plane crash. "Ted Stevens loved Alaska andcared deeply about his constituents. He understood the importance of the oiland natural gas industry, and he worked tirelessly to help secure a strongerenergy future for Alaskans and all Americans. We express our condolences to hisloved ones," Gerard said in a statement. Stevens was a longtime advocate of theoil industry and helped bring jobs and revenues to the state by backingdrilling throughout his career. Stevens steered legislation through Congress inthe early 1970s that authorized construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Buthe fell short in his decades-long push to open the Arctic National WildlifeRefuge to oil drilling, calling a late 2005 vote that defeated ANWR drilling "thesaddest day of my life."

EPAWilling to Spend $2 Million of Your Tax Dollars on Duplicative Study onHydraulic Fracturing – But Not Willing to Pony Up a Few Extra K to Hold CivilForum in Binghamton. NYTimes (8/10) reports, "The hearing had just been moved to Syracuse afterthe original venue, Binghamton University, set conditions that E.P.A. officialsfound unacceptable and sent the agency looking for an alternate site in ahurry. Judith Enck, the E.P.A.’s regional administrator in New York, said thatBinghamton University had been squared away as a site last month but suddenlydecided to change the meeting’s location to a room with no air conditioning.When the E.P.A. "pushed back" on this change, she said, the university relentedbut raised its fee for the event.  "Itis regretful that Binghamton University has put E.P.A., and more importantly,thousands of people on both sides of the issue who had planned to attend thismeeting, in this inconvenient and difficult position," Ms. Enck said in astatement. "Universities are places where civic participation should flourish,especially on a major environmental topic like hydraulic fracturing’s potentialimpact on drinking water." But university officials countered that they hadraised the price to cover security and logistical costs after consulting locallaw enforcement officials, special interest groups and others that indicatedthat as many as 8,000 people could show up for the hearing, far more than the1,200 participants that the E.P.A. had pre-registered for the event.

HouseGOP Puts Members on the Record Regarding Support or Opposition to Using LameDuck Session as Means to Ram Thru Unpopular Carbon Criminalization Bill. E&E News (8/10,subs. req’d) reports, "House lawmakers today derailed a Republican bid to blockDemocrats from pushing through controversial climate legislation during alame-duck session. On a 236-163 procedural vote, the House quashed a resolutionfrom Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) pledging that Congress would not convene betweenNovember and January except in the case of a national emergency. Price andother GOP lawmakers are looking to fend off Democrats’ efforts to pass majorlegislation including a sweeping climate and energy bill after the Novemberelection. Top White House officials and Democratic leaders have suggested thatclimate legislation that stalled in the Senate this year may have a better shotonce political pressure on Capitol Hill has dissipated. "Democrats aretrying to avoid accountability by delaying the passage of a national energy taxand other unpopular policies until after Election Day," Price said in astatement. "Some might think that is a good way to override the will ofthe public, but it is a terrible way to govern. A lame duck session should notbe used as a post-election blitz to impose liberal programs that Americans donot support."

Lotsof Talk About How a Boxer Loss Might Impact Cap-and-Raid in DC – But WhatHappens to CA’s A.B. 32 if Jerry Brown Loses the Governor’s Seat? Politico (8/11)reports, "Nowhere is the battle more intense than in California, whereDemocratic Attorney General Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman are at oddsover the state’s landmark law to reduce heat-trapping emissions to 1990 levelsby 2020. Whitman favors a one-year suspension of the law, known as AB 32, togive the state’s economy time to recover from the recession. The former eBaychief executive said last fall that the climate law, which Republican Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger signed in 2006, "may have been well-intentioned, but itis wrong for these challenging times." Brown’s campaign has seized on Whitman’srightward shift during her heated GOP primary, which waded into doubts on thescience of global warming. And his campaign said Whitman is waffling when itcomes to her views on a separate ballot initiative – funded by out-of-state oilcompany interests – that would halt AB 32 unless there’s a dramatic economicturnaround. "We’re opposed to climate change, and Meg Whitman isn’t sure it’sreal," said Brown spokesman Sterling Clifford. "That’s the critical distinctionon that issue."

EdMarkey Likens Vote to Bail Out Public Sector Unions By Cutting Solar Hand-Outsto a "Sophie’s Choice" – Our 8^th Grade Literature Teacher Tells UsHe Meant a "Hobson’s Choice." TheHill (8/10) reports, "Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) on Tuesday denounced theSenate for forcing the House into making a "Sophie’s choice" in backingemergency state aid partially paid for by stripping away renewable energyincentives. Markey – who has been a leading lieutenant to House Speaker NancyPelosi (D-Calif.) on energy and environment issues – blamed the Senate forsending the House a $26.1 billion state education and Medicaid funding packagethat is partially paid for by slashing $1.5 billion in renewable energy loanguarantees approved in last year’s economic stimulus bill. "It’s just somethingthat unfortunately I have to deal with in terms of the way in which the Senatehas been forced to operate in 2010," Markey said, shortly before the Houseapproved the Senate-passed aid package. "It’s unfortunate that these kinds ofSophie’s choices [occur] but it in no way undermines the long-term commitmentfor renewable energy, which the Speaker and the Democrats have." Pelosi madethe unusual move of calling House lawmakers back from their summer recess toapprove the emergency funding, and held a signing ceremony afterward. She didnot take any questions from reporters. 

NoSunshine in Britain? No Problem, Say Solar Lobbyists – Just Ensure Our Power IsPrices 10 Times the Market Price, and All Will Be Fine. ClimateWire (8/10,subs. req’d) reports, "A new feed-in tariff 10 times the price of regularelectricity is fueling a boom in photovoltaic solar power generation in theUnited Kingdom. Since the tariff came into effect April 1, 12.4 megawatts ofphotovoltaic solar power generation were installed — that’s 50 percent morethan in the last two years combined, according to the Office of the Gas and ElectricityMarkets, or Ofgem, Britain’s energy regulator. The bulk of the new solar panelswere connected at 4,882 domestic installations in England, Scotland and Wales,accounting for 12.28 megawatts. Twenty-three commercial installations and eightcommunity installations account for the rest. Northern Ireland operates asimilar feed-in tariff program that is not included in this data. The U.K.government hopes the feed-in tariff will encourage deployment of small-scale,low-carbon electricity generation, particularly by individuals, householders,organizations, businesses and communities that have not traditionallyparticipated in the electricity market. The government expects the program willeventually support more than 750,000 small-scale low-carbon electricityinstallations and will save 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

ActivistsAttempting to Target BP Hilariously Miss the Mark in Boycotting, VandalizingBP-Branded Filling Stations – Think These Folks Know BP Doesn’t Actually OwnThese Things? NYTimes (8/10) reports, "BP owns fewer than 2 percent of the 10,000 stationsacross the country that carry its brand, but that did not spare its independentstation owners from boycotts, protests, vandalism and customer tirades aboutfouled beaches and oiled wildlife during the more than three months that crudeflowed into the Gulf of Mexico. "You don’t have a problem like this and have itgo away overnight," said Tom Bower, whose company owns about 30 BP stations inGeorgia and supplies BP brand gas to many more stations in the state. "It’sgoing to take a lot of work, but hopefully they’ll persevere." Sales remaindown at BP stations nationwide, not just those in the Gulf Coast. The degreesof loss vary widely, with a few station owners still experiencing severedeclines in business, and others feeling little or no effect. In general, thedisruption appears to have topped out early in the crisis, with the persistenthit to sales lower than industry observers had expected. To blunt the impact ofthe spill, BP has also offered station owners and distributors small discountson fuel and a break on credit card fees. Those hurt the most by the crisisappear to be small, family-owned stores where a combination of geography andthe proximity of competing stations has driven large numbers of former patronsaway.

Peak-OilerMatt Simmons Was Wrong (A Lot) More Times in His Career Than He Was Right, ButHis Passing Marks Sad Day for Energy Sector. HoustonChronicle (8/9) reports, "Matthew R. Simmons, 67, founder of Houston-basedinvestment bank Simmons & Co. and the Ocean Energy Research Institute passedaway in Maine suddenly on Sunday, according to a statement from his office.According to local press reports he accidentally drown "with heart diseaseas a contributing factor" at his home in North Haven, Maine. He issurvived by his wife, Ellen, and their five daughters.  Details of the services are pending. Inlieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Ocean EnergyResearch Institute. Simmons is perhaps best known for his book Twilight in theDesert, which claims Saudi Arabia’s oil fields were becoming depleted much morequickly than the kingdom would admit. Most recently Simmons expressed seriousdoubts about BP and government accounts of the Gulf oil spill. A formalsevering of ties between Simmons & Co. and Simmons followed some of hisharsher comments.

Taps for TAPS: Enviro Efforts toDeny Access to Chukchi, Beaufort, ANWR Part of a Larger, Simpler Strategy toRender Useless the Alaskan Pipeline. LATimes (8/10) reports, "In its heyday in the 1980s, the pipeline carried asmuch as 2.1 million barrels of oil a day from America’s largest oil field atPrudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. Alaska was transformed into a petro statewith an oil savings account worth $33.3 billion. Today, however, the pipelineis carrying only about 660,000 barrels of oil a day, and production from theNorth Slope’s aging fields is set to steadily decline over the nextdecade.  What this means for thecontinued delivery of oil to the rest of the U.S. from Alaska is significant.Engineers have warned that the pipeline – the only means of delivery of NorthSlope oil – will develop potentially dangerous problems with corrosion and iceif flows drop below 500,000 barrels a day, as they are expected to within thenext five to 10 years. At 350,000 barrels a day, frost heaves could cause theunderground portions of the pipeline to dangerously wrinkle and kink. Already,oil that once took 4½ days to surge from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez now crawlsthrough in 14 days, with flow rates slowed to 2 mph. Alaska officials say thebest way out of the pipeline dilemma is to generate new production.Conservationists who have urged a slowdown in the march of oil development intothe vulnerable regions of the Arctic coastal plain and outer continental shelfconcede the problem with pipeline flows but say the oil companies are using thethreat of a pipeline shutdown to get access to more oil without paying for thescientific studies needed to do it safely.

Red All Around: Chinese RigSlated to Be Producing Oil in Cuban Waters for a Spanish Company Operated byCanadian Engineers Starting in 2011. Edmonton Sun(8/9) reports, "A Chinese-built drilling rig is expected to arrive in Cubanwaters in early 2011, likely opening the way for full-scale exploration of theisland’s untapped offshore fields. The journey to Cuba will take two months,and once it arrives it will be put into operation almost immediately, said theofficial, who asked not to be identified. It will be used first as anexploratory well for a consortium led by Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF, whichdrilled the only offshore well in Cuba in 2004 and said at the time it had foundhydrocarbons. Cuba has said it may have 20 billion barrels of oil in itsoffshore, but the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated a more modest 4.6billion barrels and 10 trillion cubic feet of gas. Repsol has been mostlysilent on the long delay in drilling more wells, but it is widely assumed inthe oil industry it was due to the longstanding U.S. trade embargo againstCuba. Repsol is said to be planning at least one exploration well and possiblyanother. The rig will then be passed to other companies with contracts to drillin Cuban waters. Cuba’s portion of the Gulf of Mexico has been divided into 59blocks, of which 17 have been contracted to companies including Repsol,Malaysia’s Petronas Brazil’s Petrobras, Venezuela’s PDVSA and PetroVietnam. 

The Story You Won’t Hear: MoreCash Paid to PA State Forests by Single Marcellus Producer Than the StateDivvies Out for Forest Conservation in 3 Years. PittsburghTribune-Review (8/10) reports, "Marcellus shale gas drilling in stateforests could pay the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Fund – an account for stateparks and conservation projects – more cash from a single energy company thanit typically collects in three years. A spokesman for Talisman Energy Inc.,which leases mineral rights on 5,700 acres in Tioga State Forest, saidyesterday that 13 Talisman wells there are producing 55 million cubic feet ofnatural gas a day. That translates to about $33,000 to $34,000 daily in royaltiesto the state fund.  At that rate,the publicly traded Warrendale company could pay $12 million a year to a fundthat previously collected $3.5 million to $4 million a year. Royalties aregrowing as wells ramp up production. A spokesman for the Department ofConservation and Natural Resources said the fund collected $680,877 inroyalties from Marcellus shale wells last month, as of July 28. That’s adramatic increase from six months earlier when the royalties totaled $98,333.In Pennsylvania, Mark Scheuerman of Talisman Energy said his company’s stateroyalty payments could increase significantly as drilling continues.  And that’s just a portion of thepotential money for the state fund. A spokesman for the Department ofConservation and Natural Resources said three other companies – Anadarko,Seneca Resource and PGE – have producing Marcellus shale wells on state landwhere they hold leases.

Why Would George Soros PumpMillions Into MoveOn.org to Deny Private Landowners Access to Their Gas Rightsin PA, NY? Read On. Ed Laskywrites (8/9) on the AmericanThinker, "George Soros is continuing his assault on America’s shale gasindustry. His latest step is to mobilize MoveOn.Org, a so-called 527 group thathe liberally funds, to join forces with the very left-wing Working FamiliesParty of New York in an effort to stop the process of hydrofracking: a crucial, and safe, technology used to tap our nation’s abundant natural gas reserves:Why would the group focus on stopping the development of shale gas? BecauseMoveOn is following the agenda of George Soros. He wants shale gas — a vast,easily tapped resource located on-shore throughout large swaths of America –to be plugged up. This helps his big financial interest in the Brazilianpetroleum company Petrobras, the Australian-based InterOil corporation, and thebillion dollars he is pouring into "renewable" energy schemes. Sorosalso has pulled in his billionaire pals, Herbert and Marion Sandler who havefounded and funded their own media outfit, ProPublica, that is purportedly anon-partisan investigative group. ProPublica has for some odd reason focusedmuch of its efforts on disparaging the shale gas industry. There seems to be aconcerted effort among George Soros and the Sandlers and their pet groups,MoveOn.Org and ProPublica, to derail America’s most promising domestic energyresource: shale gas.

 WH Cries Crocodile Tears onUntimely Death of Carbon Criminalization – Blames GOPers Publicly, ButPrivately Tossing Greens Under the Hybrid Bus. Greenwire(8/9, subs. req’d) reports, "The White House is "deeply disappointed"that Congress hasn’t passed climate legislation but won’t give up on getting itdone this year, President Obama’s top climate and energy adviser saidyesterday. Carol Browner said on NBC’s "Meet the Press" that theadministration is still holding out hope for a legislative victory on climateand energy, despite the political challenges of passing a controversial billthrough the Senate after the chamber returns from its August recess. "TheCongress is coming back. We will continue to see if we can getlegislation," she said. "We passed it in the House. We’ll continue towork in the Senate." Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) will seek a vote this week ona resolution asking Congress to agree not to pursue controversial bills likeenergy and climate during such a session. But even advocates of greenhouse gascurbs acknowledge that a lame-duck push for a climate bill will be a toughslog. "Barring a surprise, it’s going to be very hard, even in a lame-ducksession, to get 60 votes for a carbon cap," climate bill co-author Sen.Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said last week. "It’s not impossible, but it’svery hard."

 The Sun Also Sets: SolarLobbyists Won’t Get Bonuses This Year if Pelosi Public Sector Bailout BillPasses – Can’t Believe They Let a $1.5B Rescission Slip Thru.E&E News (8/9,subs. req’d) reports, "The renewable industry is stepping up calls for Congressto replace loan guarantee funding on the eve of House passage of a state aidbill partially paid for by taking $1.5 billion from the Energy Department’sstimulus program. The Solar Energy Industries Association said taking another$1.5 billion from the program on top of $2 billion that Congress rescinded lastyear would be a "terrible mistake" and "jeopardizes" $15billion to $20 billion in private investment. "A $1.5 billion rescissionwould cut the DOE loan guarantee program to the point where it would besubstantially over-subscribed and many meritorious applications would likely bedenied," wrote Daniel Adamson, vice president of government affairs forSEIA, in a letter to lawmakers. SEIA President Rhone Resch also asked PresidentObama today to restore the funding and to extend another program that providescash in lieu of tax credits for renewable energy project financing. The solarindustry’s efforts follow requests last week from wind, biomass, hydropower andgeothermal companies asking the House not to approve the program cuts.