News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“So Very Hideous an Idea”:One Last Push for Land-Grab Monstrosity in Resources Coined by Hastings the“Frankenstein” Omnibus – 1,400 Pages, Millions of Acres Locked Away. Greenwire(12/2, subs. req’d) reports, “Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) struck a gothic tonein sounding off against Senate Democrats’ eleventh-hour effort to pass a bundleof stalled waterways, public lands and wildlife bills before this Congressends. Citing staff research and "reliable private accounts," Hastingssaid the "monstrous" measure could include as many as 126 individualbills, total 1,400 pages and authorize $10 billion in additional spending."Somewhere in the Senate, Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer are secretlyconstructing a Frankenstein omnibus of bills from three separatecommittees," said Hastings, who is expected to head the House NaturalResources Committee next year. "Democratic leaders are ignoring theoverwhelming message sent by voters in November that they wanted an end to thebackroom deals that produce giant bills loaded with new spending andjob-killing policies." Hastings was the second GOP leader in as many daysto publicly condemn the proposed package, the contents of which remain undernegotiation, according to Senate leaders.

“We’re Freezing”:Working-Class Folk Among the First to Feel the Bite of Salazar OffshoreMoratorium – Dearth of Home Heating Fuel Sends Prices Thru the Roof. Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/2) reports, “As metro Atlanta’stemperatures grow colder, the demand for heat is, well, heating up. A day afterhundreds of people queued up outside a Marietta community center to apply forassistance with heat and power bills, hopeful applicants began lining up againaround midnight, waiting in the sub-freezing temperatures for the doors to openThursday morning. This time, however, officials let those in line come into theMansour Center on Roswell Street an hour early at 7:30 and get relief fromtemperatures that dropped to 27 degrees. “We’re freezing,” said Lecher Eady, aMarietta mother who arrived at midnight seeking help with her bills. “Our handsare cold, our feet are cold.” Eady, the mother of triplets in diapers, said shehas been out of work since August. “I’ve had three jobs this year, and I’vebeen laid off from all three,” she said. “I’m grateful just to get any type ofhelp they’ll give me.” That heating assistance will come in handy next week,when a surge of cold Canadian air will send overnight lows in metro Atlantaplummeting to the low 20s, with afternoon highs warming only into the mid-40s.

He Really Said This: Sen.Harkin Justifies $0.45 Tariff Wall Preventing Ethanol Imports from AccessingU.S. Markets on Basis that It “Comes Back to Consumers in Cheaper Gas Prices.”(!) The Hill (12/2) reports, “Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Thursday thatexpiring ethanol tax credits he’s battling to extend could hitch a ride on apossible omnibus appropriations package. “If we have an omnibus, the chancesare pretty good we might get that in the omnibus,” Harkin told reporters in theCapitol. However, the prospects for a catch-all federal spending package ratherthan a continuing resolution that maintains current spending levels are highlyuncertain. Harkin and other Corn Belt lawmakers are battling to extend thecredit that provides refiners and gasoline blenders 45 cents for each gallon ofethanol mixed into gasoline — an incentive supporters call vital toensuring a robust ethanol market. The tax credit and an import tariff thatprotects the domestic industry expire at the end of the year, and ethanol advocatesare battling a left-right coalition that’s trying to kill the incentives.Harkin said it’s unclear if there are enough votes for extending the credits.“I hope so,” he said. “The 45 cents per gallon comes back to consumers incheaper gasoline prices. Consumers are better off.

Enviros’ GOP “Plant” on theOil Spill Commission Not Exactly Working Out as Planned – Reilly SaysDevelopment Stall in the Gulf Shouldn’t Be Used to Justify Stall in Alaska. E&E News(12/2, subs. req’d) reports, “The co-chairman of the presidential oil spillcommission warned today against stalling Arctic oil and gas exploration forstudies of competing interests in the region’s waters. William Reilly, a formerU.S. EPA administrator and co-chairman of the National Commission on the BPDeepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, outlined several issues inthe Arctic debate, ranging from economic drivers and ecosystem impacts tothreats to native groups. "All these competing views point to aprecautionary approach for drilling in the Arctic, and a number of areaswarrant targeted research," Reilly said. "But the need for additionalresearch should not be used as a de facto moratorium but instead be carried outwith specific timeline drivers in mind." Arctic drilling should proceedcarefully, Reilly said. "That doesn’t mean cease operations until you’re100 percent sure of a satisfactory conclusion," he said. Reilly’s remarkscame as the seven-member panel deliberated on recommendations it will make toPresident Obama next month in a report on its investigation. The comments alsocame a day after the Interior Department announced it is open to possible leasesales in Arctic waters before 2017.

Oops: Only Weeks AfterReleasing New Rules Governing Industrial Boilers, EPA Forced to Admit New RegsWere Not “Achievable” – Another Embarrassment for Jackson. Greenwire(12/2, subs. req’d) reports, “Having taken comment on controversial newregulations for industrial boilers, U.S. EPA now believes that some pollutionlimits in the draft rules "were simply too tight to be able to beachievable," the agency’s air chief said today, signaling that the agencyis readying final regulations that won’t be as tough on businesses. When EPAissued the proposal in April, the agency was scrambling to meet a courtdeadline, said Gina McCarthy, the agency’s assistant administrator for air andradiation, on the sidelines of an event in Washington, D.C. There are manyindustries that use boilers to power their operations, and the agency had verylittle information on some of them. As a result, she said, the proposedstandards were "very difficult to achieve in certain sectors — which wedid not know," she said. "Now that we have the information at hand,it changes the calculation entirely," McCarthy added. "I think theanxiety really isn’t so much about the rule itself — it’s about making surethat we’re paying attention to the data that comes in, and that the datainforms a more robust decision. And it will." "The rule was based ona hypothetical boiler and emissions mix that didn’t conform to reality,"Walls said.

Hands Down the Best Part ofthese Int’l Climate Kleptocrat Conferences: The Never-Ending String of AwesomeJungle Metaphors. See Below, In Bold.Bloomberg (12/3) reports, “The U.S. pressed China to do more atclimate-change talks in Copenhagen last year. Now, as the U.S. falls short ofits own goals, China may have gained more credibility in renewed negotiationsby moving to clean up its energy industry. “TheU.S. is a wounded elephant,” Pa Ousman Jarju, Gambia’s climate envoy, saidin an interview on Dec. 1. “The elephanthad been moving very slowly, but now it’s limping. We have to be realistic.We know there’s nothing they can push here because of their domesticcircumstances.” The U.S. is pushing in Cancun for nations to embrace theCopenhagen accord, which calls for rich and fast-growing economies to cutemissions by 2020. It also envisions a system to measure and verify emissioncuts and proposes a $100 billion fund to channel climate aid to developingnations. The U.S. wants that to be the foundation of a new treaty. Japan saysit makes no sense to extend the Kyoto agreement without the two biggestpolluting nations subject to its terms. “Without the active participation ofthe two biggest emitters, namely China and the United States, it’s not a globaleffort,” Kuni Shimada, special adviser to Japanese environment minister RyuMatsumoto, said in an interview.

$40 Billion: No, Not theAmount that the Chinese Are Investing in Pinwheels and Suncatchers – theAmount They’re Investing in Developing Venezuela’s Offshore Oil.Wall Street Journal (12/3) reports, “China’s three mainstate-owned oil companies have strengthened their ties to Venezuela’s energysector, signing six agreements and increasing their investments to a planned$40 billion. The deals are the latest of a string of multibillion-dollar SouthAmerican ventures signed by Chinese companies in recent months, aimed atacquiring major chunks of the continent’s rich resources and at helping fuelChina’s economic boom. Among the agreements signed was one by China NationalPetroleum Corp.’s chairman, Jiang Jiemin, and Venezuela Oil Minister RafaelRamirez for the joint development of an oil block in the Orinoco basin, theCNPC said in its in-house newspaper Friday. It said the agreement had beensigned Wednesday. The cost of developing the block—known as Junin 4 andcapable of producing 400,000 barrels of crude daily—could be as much as$16 billion, with the block developed as a 60:40 joint venture by state-ownedPetroleos de Venezuela SA and CNPC, the two companies said in April when theyagreed to a preliminary pact.

You Heard the One About thePolish Guy Who Developed 47 Trillion Cubic Feet of Shale Gas In His Country?How Do You Say “Oh Sh*t” in Russian? Bloomberg (12/2) reports, “ConocoPhillips, the third-biggest U.S. energycompany, and Eastern European partner Lane Energy Poland plan to drill anotherexploratory well for natural gas in a Polish shale formation. Lane Energy thisyear drilled two vertical wells at its license in northern Poland. The companyis now testing the results and getting ready to drill a horizontal well in thesame area in the second quarter of 2011 and results should be ready by the endof next year, Kamlesh Parmar, Country Manager at Lane Energy Poland, said todayduring a conference in Warsaw. Shale drilling, where rock formations arehorizontally drilled and fractured using water and chemicals under highpressure, is driving a surge in U.S. natural-gas output. It last year made thecountry the world’s largest gas producer, overtaking Russia, and drove priceslower. Poland’s reserves of shale and tight gas may be as much as 3 trillioncubic meters, according to estimates by Advanced Resources International. Thatcould potentially turn the country into a net exporter of gas and reduceEurope’s dependence on Russian supplies.

Kish: New Obama OffshoreBan will “kill production, kill revenue, kill jobs and kill consumer hopes foraffordable fuel and a sane energy policy.”Washington Times (12/3) editorializes, “Virginia has becomethe latest victim of the Obama administration’s war against the domesticdrilling industry. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced yesterday thatwaters off Virginia and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico will remain closed todrilling through 2017 despite the commonwealth’s strong desire for oil and gasproduction. The moratorium will cost the Old Dominion jobs and tax revenuewhile further undermining America’s domestic energy industry. New drilling offVirginia might have helped make up that gap, at least in the long-term. Thefederal Minerals Management Service estimated that as much as 750 millionbarrels of oil and 6.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas lie off Virginia’scoast. Mr. Obama and Mr. Salazar, doing the bidding of environmental radicals,are keeping those mineral riches off limits. In October, the Southeast EnergyAlliance estimated the commonwealth would gain 1,900 jobs and a $365 millionannual boost to its economy from drilling that’s now denied. If Virginia wereallowed the same percentage of proceeds as Gulf states, state government couldgarner up to $250 million annually. Those jobs and earnings are now off thetable for at least seven years. Dan Kish, policy chief for the industry-backed Institutefor Energy Research and former chief of staff for the House Natural ResourcesCommittee, uses even harsher words. "These guys have declared war onconventional fuels … and on the American public, frankly," he told TheWashington Times. The Obama administration has forsworn the idea of"drill, baby, drill" for that of "kill, baby, kill" – killproduction, kill revenue, kill jobs and kill consumer hopes for affordable fueland a sane energy policy.”

Did the E&C Rs Forgetthe Roll-Over Vote on the Blowout Prevention Act? You Know, the Bill that WouldPut Every Oil and Gas Well Under Federal Jurisdiction, Including Those onPrivate and State Lands? E&C Republicans (12/1) write for Politico, “With a newcongressional session comes a recycling of the old proposal to raid thejurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This seems a bizarremoment to advance the idea that a group, which didn’t stand up to the BarackObama-Nancy Pelosi axis on its radical energy and environmental initiatives,should now take over the work of the committee that did. Remember cap andtrade? What was supposed to be an unstoppable, greased-pig markup on the Obamaadministration’s signature cap-and-trade bill was turned into a fight by the 23determined Republicans on Energy and Commerce. Four long days and nights spentin Room 2123 of the Rayburn building found Republicans sharply disputingDemocrats and their theories about global warming and the U.S. economy. Dealswere offered and rejected, while 300 Republican amendments piled up on theclerk’s desk and majority members were forced into extended debate on 47 of them.”Flashback: Texas Railroad Commission comes out swinging against HR 5626.

Headline Says it All:“Unleashing U.S. Energy Resources Could Spark Economic Recovery,” if theGovernment Leased Some Land, Issued a Few Permits. Ben Lieberman (12/2) writes for the Washington Examiner, “Among the many suggestions for deficitreduction in the recently released Fiscal Commission report is a 15cents-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax. There is a better way.If raising energy-related revenues is the goal, why not fill federal coffers ina manner that actually reduces the price at the pump? Washington can accomplishthis by allowing more oil drilling. The federal government controls alloffshore areas beyond three miles from the coast, as well as vast expanses ofenergy-rich western lands. Unfortunately, only a fraction of these areas havebeen opened to energy leasing, due to legislative and regulatory restrictions.For example, a 2008 Department of the Interior report concluded that only 8percent of the estimated 31 billion barrels of oil beneath federal lands isfully available for leasing, while 30 percent is subject to significantrestrictions and 62 percent is entirely off-limits. America’ offshore areashold even greater potential but are also constrained. No other energy-producingnation on Earth has limited its own energy producing potential to this extent.Even with these restrictions, revenues from new energy leases reached $10billion dollars in 2008.”

The Great Green Revitalization?Not So Fast, Says Michigan Town That Was Home to a Refrigerator Plant of 4,000Workers, and now 320 Sun-Catcher Makers.Wall Street Journal (11/29) reports, “When a fast-growing makerof solar equipment broke ground here in 2006 on the first two of what it saidwould eventually be six giant new factories, it seemed the sun was finallyshining on this town’s battered economy. Just months earlier, Sweden’sElectrolux AB had shut its Greenville refrigerator plant, nearly snuffing outwhat had been the town’s marquee industry for more than a century. Countingjobs lost at local Electrolux suppliers and two other smaller factories, thiswestern Michigan town of 8,000 lost some 4,000 jobs almost overnight, andunemployment in Montcalm County soared to nearly 16%. Kenneth Snow, the town’smayor, says attracting the solar plants was a turning point at a dark moment. Butsolar hasn’t taken up the slack many thought it would. The two plants werebuilt, and now employ 320 people between them. The company—United SolarOvonic, known as Uni-Solar, a unit of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. of AuburnHills, Mich.—has indefinitely shelved plans for additional factories inGreenville.”

39% of Massachusetts HeatsTheir Home with Oil, 44% with Nat Gas, Got That? Markey Calls for RecordHeating Assistance Subsidies, Yet Opposes Production of those Fuels. MakeSense?Rep. Markey (12/1) press release, “Representative EdwardJ. Markey (D-Mass.) today led a letter, cosigned by 62 of his colleagues in theHouse of Representatives, calling for funding the Low-Income Home HeatingAssistance Program (LIHEAP) through September 30, 2011 at least at the FY2010levels of $5.1 billion – the highest funding level in the history of theprogram. “During these tough economic times, record numbers of Americanfamilies turn to this program so they don’t have to turn off their thermostats.Cutting funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program this winterwould lead to millions of families being turned away and a dramatic reductionin benefits. This holiday season, we can’t let this important program take afunding holiday from helping people to stay warm. I will continue to fight toensure that Massachusetts families are not left out in the cold this winter asCongress debates funding for home energy assistance later this month.”

“Forty years ago today, theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors,” and Waged Battle onAmerican Manufacturing and Energy Production. EPA Admin. Lisa Jackson (12/2) writes for the Wall Street Journal, “Forty years ago today, the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors, beginning a history ofimprovements to our health and environment. We reach this milestone exactly onemonth after the midterm elections strengthened the influence of groups andindividuals who threaten to roll back the EPA’s efforts. Last month’s electionswere not a vote for dirtier air or more pollution in our water. No one was sentto Congress with a mandate to increase health threats to our children… Special interests have spent millionsof dollars making the case that we must choose the economy or the environment,attacking everything from removing lead in gasoline to cleaning up acid rain.They have consistently exaggerated the cost and scope of EPA actions, and in 40years their predictions have not come true. These attacks are aimed at the EPA,but their impacts are felt by all Americans. Pollutants like mercury, smog andsoot are neurotoxins and killers that cause developmental problems and asthmain kids, and heart attacks in adults. We will not strengthen our economy byexposing our communities and our workers to more pollution. In thesepolitically charged times, we urge Congress and the American people to focus onresults from common-sense policies, not inaccurate doomsday speculations. Thatis how we can confront our nation’s economic and environmental challenges andlay a foundation for the next 40 years and beyond.