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Coal MinersStand Up to Obama Admin., EPA; Rally on Capitol Hill to Save Their Jobs.  AP (9/15) reports, "Hundredsof coal miners rallied on Capitol Hill Wednesday against the Obamaadministration’s attempts to rein in mountaintop removal mining, accusing theEnvironmental Protection Agency of trying to wipe out the coal industry."This administration is trying to shut down coal and fire all ofyou," said Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., adding that the EPA was practicing"strangulation by regulation." The industry-backed group Faces ofCoal said it paid for most of the travel and lodging expenses for the coalminers, who came from West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio.Speakers included politicians from both parties and country music singer StellaParton. Ralliers wore blue Faces of Coal T-shirts, and some sported hard hats.They hoisted signs that said, "Coal Keeps the Lights on," and"Coal Miners ‘Dig’ Their Jobs." When an opening prayer was given, itincluded thanks to God for natural resources such as coal. "They’re tryingto take our jobs," yelled Haven King, a 65-year-old retired coal minerfrom Hazard, Ky. "We have to stand up." West Virginia Gov. JoeManchin, a Democrat, said that the EPA is blocking jobs. "West Virginiawill fight back and every coal state must fight back," he said.

With CongressBack in Session, Some Call for Offshore Moratorium, Others Bring Facts to theDiscussion. Tom Pyle (9/15)writes for the DailyCaller, "This week, Congress holds hearings to discuss what is widelyseen as a politically-motivated moratorium on deepwater drilling. The Presidentis fully aware that an extended drilling ban would cost thousands of jobs;energy officials within Obama’s own administration have predicted that anextended drilling ban would reduce domestic oil production by 82,000 barrelsper day in 2011. The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association statesthat nearly 80% of the oil produced in the Gulf comes from wells in the deeperwaters. They estimate that the costs of the exploration suspension rangebetween $8.25 million and $16.5 million per day in rig costs; $1 million perday in costs for support boats; and $165 million to $330 million per month inlost wages for all 33 deepwater rigs. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) hasstipulated that the ongoing economic devastation of the spill may be surpassedby the impacts of the moratorium. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) recently statedthat "the result of this Administration’s decision will still be a substantialloss of jobs – jobs that may not return to the Gulf for years." The expansivedisconnect between voters and their elected representatives is particularlynoticeable with respect to energy policy. A recent Rasmussen poll revealed that61% of those surveyed rank finding new sources of energy as more important thanreducing the amount of energy Americans now consume. Survey after surveyindicates that Americans overwhelmingly support domestic energy development,from oil or natural gas. However, this Administration and its Congressionalallies remain convinced that making domestic energy more expensive and harderto produce is what’s best for American families.

Sure theNatural Gas Industry Created over 44K Jobs in Pennsylvania Last Year; How DoesGov. Rendell Reward the Industry? How ‘Bout a Big Fat Tax. Grover Norquist and Patrick Gleason (9/16) writefor Politico,"Over the next three weeks, the front lines of the energy policy debateare likely to shift from Capitol Hill to Harrisburg, Pa. For Gov. Ed Rendellhas launched an assault on domestic energy production unrivaled by any otherlawmaker or chief executive in the country, President Barack Obama included.Pennsylvania is on the verge of what many policy experts are calling amodern-day gold rush, thanks to the Marcellus Shale formation, a natural gasdeposit that spans most of the state. It only recently, because oftechnological advances, became a viable source of clean-burning natural gas. Infact, Marcellus may turn out to be the second-largest gas deposit in the world.It promises great potential for economic expansion and job creation in a stateand region sorely in need of both. Development of the Marcellus Shale was oneof the few bright spots in Pennsylvania’s economy last year, according to arecent Penn State study, creating 44,000 new high-paying jobs and generatingnearly $1.4 billion in additional federal, state and local tax revenue.

New Poll: 62%of Americans Oppose New Taxes on Oil and Natural Gas; 60% Say Such a Tax WillCost Jobs. Oiland Gas Journal (9/15) reports, "Nearly two thirds of America’s votersoppose raising taxes on the oil and gas industry in the US and believe it coulddestroy jobs, the American Petroleum Institute announced on Sept. 14. API saida telephone survey it commissioned by Harris Interactive found that 62% of therespondents opposed increasing oil and gas taxes, and 60% said it could costthe nation jobs. "Voters fear that raising taxes on an industry that providesmost of their energy and supports more than 9.2 million jobs would hurt themand damage the economy," said API Pres. Jack N. Gerard. "They think it couldcost jobs, and that’s exactly what two recent studies show." Gerard noted thatbased on a Wood Mackenzie analysis in August of production impacts fromeliminating the manufacturing and intangible drilling cost tax deductions forthe oil and natural gas industry, API calculated 58,800 jobs would be put atrisk in 2011 and 165,000 in 2020. A separate study of the impacts of ending themanufacturing tax deduction and increasing taxes on the industry’sforeign-earned income by Louisiana State University finance professor Joseph R.Mason concluded that 154,000 jobs could be lost in 2011, Gerard said. Mason’sstudy, which was released on Sept. 13 by the American Energy Alliance, anInstitute for Energy Research affiliate, also indicated that excluding the oiland gas industry from the manufacturers’ tax deduction and repealing dualcapacity foreign tax credits would reduce US economic output by $341.3 billion,tax revenue by $83.5 billion, and workers’ wages by $67.8 billion between 2011and 2020.

A Win for theGood Guys. Federal Judge Sides with Railroad Industry, Interstate Commerce overGreenies on Emissions in SoCal.  LATimes (9/16) reports, "Air quality watchdogs in Southern Californiacan’t impose limits on emissions from idling trains because they couldinterfere with interstate commerce that the federal government regulates, afederal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The decision dealt a blow to attempts byair quality regulators in the Los Angeles region, who have been attempting tolimit emissions in the densely populated areas around San Pedro Bay ports,through which 40% of the nation’s containerized cargo flows. The U.S. 9thCircuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous decision from the U.S. DistrictCourt for the Central District of California. The lawsuit filed by the Assn. ofAmerican Railroads and the BNSF and Union Pacific railroad companies challengedrestrictions imposed in 2005 and 2006 by the South Coast Air Quality ManagementDistrict, which covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardinocounties. In cities along the Los Angeles river corridor, activists have takenaim at diesel pollution from four rail yards, including BNSF Railway’s Hobartfacility, the world’s busiest "intermodal" yard, which transfers 1.2million containers a year between trucks and trains. Diesel exhaust from trainsand trucks is blamed for high cancer rates in several cities along thecorridor. But the air quality district’s rules are preempted by the InterstateCommerce Commission Termination Act of 1995, which says state and local lawscannot unreasonably burden interstate commerce, a three-judge panel of the 9thCircuit said in its ruling.

Rent-SeekingCorporations, Unions, Expensive-Energy Lobbyists Cobble Together 21 Groups toSign Statement in Support of Pinwheel and Sun Catcher Mandate. Newsworthy?ToSome. Reuters (9/16)reports, "Congress must pass a national renewable electricity standard(RES) this fall to stop the dramatic downslide in the American clean energysector, 21 companies, think tanks and trade and advocacy organizations said. Afederal edict would protect thousands of jobs threatened by a sector slowdownand stop capital from flowing out of the U.S. and into China, according to theRES Action Statement, whose signatories include Iberdrola Renewables, theUnited Steelworkers Union, the Union of Concerned Scientists and GE Energy."The jobs and the investment are going to China," said Don Furman, asenior vice president for wind company Iberdrola Renewables, in a conferencecall with reporters. "If we wait another year, we’re going to lose alot." It is the first time such a large cross-sector coalition hasendorsed a specific national clean power standard. The groups, sponsored by theRES Alliance for Jobs, are rallying behind the "Bingaman RES," aweaker option than proposals previously backed by many signatories to theaction statement. Described as "anemic" not long ago, the near-suddenenthusiasm for the policy reveals the dire state at which advocates have arrived,after Congress punted on cap and trade and other climate policies to curtailgreenhouse gas emissions. 

AffordableEnergy Battleground: California and New Jersey. AB32 Campaign Heats up in Cali,NJ Gov. Under Pressure to Drop Out of RGGI. Politico(9/15) reports, "The nation’s premier state-led climate programs are underattack by a growing coalition of industry, tea party and conservativeactivists. Opponents to limits on greenhouse gas emissions see the fights inCalifornia and New Jersey as the next step in the fight over global warmingpolicy after the demise of federal cap-and-trade legislation on Capitol Hill. "Thisis definitely a new battlefield worth reconsidering in light of threat No. 1being shelved," said Clint Woods, energy, environment and agricultural directorat the American Legislative Exchange Council, a free market advocacy group. InCalifornia, Texas oil giants Valero and Tesoro are spearheading a Novemberballot initiative to derail the Golden State’s landmark 2006 law capping itsgreenhouse gas emissions. In New Jersey, conservatives are leaning onRepublican Gov. Chris Christie to drop out of a 10-state regional cap-and-tradecompact and show his true political stripes as he raises his national profilewith an endorsement tour this fall. Similar efforts could follow in otherstates, depending on how November gubernatorial races shake out.

SmallWonder: Mike Castle Had Been Winning Statewide Elections in Delaware for 30Years — Then Came Cap-and-Raid; He Said Yes, His Voters Said No. SeattleTimes newswire (9/15) reports, "O’Donnell’s triumph, though, is the moststriking yet, because Castle, 71, has been winning statewide elections inDelaware for 30 years, while O’Donnell was making her third Senate bid in fouryears. She lost badly the other two times. Castle raised about $3.2 million andhad a seasoned staff behind him; O’Donnell had few resources and raised only$376,000. Castle supporters stood in stunned silence as returns rolled in athis election party but erupted into cheers when he took the stage. "Thevoters in the Republican primary have spoken, and I respect thatdecision," he said. The race took a sharp turn for the negative threeweeks ago after the Tea Party Express announced it would come to O’Donnell’said. Castle, a former two-term governor and veteran of 18 years in the House,repeatedly was assailed as a liberal, a Republican in name only. What set meoff was the stimulus bill," said Chris Shirey, a respiratory therapist andthe state’s tea-party coordinator. "I’d be for it if it was muchsmaller." She found like-minded people with other complaints. They wereangry at Castle’s support of the 2008 bank bailout and of the Democrats’cap-and-trade legislation last year. He was one of eight House Republicans tosupport the bill.

Toughto Blame the Corporate Interests for Backing Enviros’ Efforts to CriminalizeCarbon – It’s Good for Business, Especially If You’re in the Business ofSeeking Rents. Amanda Careywrites (9/14) for the DailyCaller, "In the words of Dan Kish, senior vice president at the Institute for Energy Research: "At theend of the day, the stuff they want us to buy is just more expensive." "Energyruns the world," said Kish. "It is directly linked with wealth and economicoutput … The question here is whether these are just good people who happen tobelieve in saving the earth." "They all go to the government to try and changethe underpinning of our economic society," Kish continued. "But at the end ofthe day the dial stops and everybody’s dancing together." Meanwhile, Obama’sgreen industrial complex continues to grow. But as the web of influentialplayers stretches, it is not by accident that environmentalists are usingcorporations to advance their agenda. "GE and others have signed up to be BigGreen’s PR outfits, though they don’t even realize whose pocket they’re in,convinced they’re the ones using the greens," said Horner. "When politiciansand activists not typically fans of private enterprise suddenly boast thatAmerica’s biggest  corporationssupport the green industry lobbying for these schemes, it is quietly assumed tobe virtuous. No one asks the basic question, ‘why is that, precisely?’"

SpeakingOf: Folks Pushin’ for a National Mandate on Expensive, Intermittent EnergyUnleash Unprecedented PR/Lobbying Effort to Sneak It Thru Before Nov. Politico’s Morning Energy (9/15)reports, "You can add a [national unreliable energy mandate – "RES"] to thegrowing list of things the Senate isn’t going to touch this work period. TheCousins Udall, two of the chamber’s strongest advocates for the renewablestandard, told reporters yesterday that, try as they might, their effort haslittle chance of gaining traction in the near term. Tom (D-N.M.): "I don’tthink we’re going to get there. I just don’t hear it on the list." Mark(D-Colo.) went one better: "The clock is running for the next three to four weeksand there’s no realistic chance of an energy proposal coming to the floor."While their concession is a blow to the RES crowd who is in the midst of anadvocacy blitz, Mark Udall was quick to provide them with a glimmer of hope. "Iknow it’s very much in discussion for the lame duck," he said, adding that SamBrownback and a handful of other GOP votes would likely be in play. Brownbackwarned that his vote isn’t guaranteed. "I’m not going to go along with justanything [Reid] throws in there…. I believe in it, I think it’s the right thingto do, but I can’t be cute with it." RES advocates will hold a press call at 10a.m. in order to continue to beat the drum for passage of a renewable standardthis year. Organizers are billing the call as a "major announcement," and oneadvocate tells Morning Energy that environmentalists, the clean energy crowdand labor will show "unified support for a specific, viable RES for the firsttime."

Easyto Offer Up an Amendment Seeking to Raise Taxes on Energy When You’re Not Upfor Re-Elect This Cycle, Right Bill Nelson? Amazed Your Colleagues FeltDifferently. Energy Guardian (9/14, subs.req’d) reports, "The Senate on Tuesday defeated a tax-reporting proposaltargeted at a group of oil and gas producers that could have increased theindustry’s operating costs. The amendment offered by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.,to the small business jobs bill sought to repeal the Section 199 manufacturingdeduction for oil and natural gas companies. It was defeated 56 to 42, fallingshort of the 60 votes needed to end debate on the proposal. API previouslywarned Senate leadership the tax proposal would kill jobs. "We are pleased theSenate failed to approve this shortsighted amendment that sought to unfairlyrepeal a job-creating tax provision for a handful of oil and natural gascompanies. Had it passed, the provision would have raised taxes and killedjobs, something the nation cannot afford, especially when so many Americans areout of work," said API’s Stephen Comstock. The Section 199 tax law wasimplemented in 2004 to allow companies to deduct a portion of their income fromdomestic production and manufacturing activities. API chief executive JackGerard told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that the oil and gasindustry created two million jobs between 2004 and 2007, which he called anindicator of the industry’s ability to assist in economic recovery.  "We believe at this time it is veryimportant not to do anything to discourage job creation, and to bring energycreation to the marketplace," Gerard said. "Section 199 is a perfect example."

TheUntouchables: Italian Mafia Uses "Green Pork" Hand-Outs, Wind Mandates toLaunder Nearly $2 Billion – US Mafia, Run By GE and Google, Look to Do the SameHere. LondonTelegraph (9/14) reports, "Police in Italy have seized Mafia-linked assetsworth $1.9 billion – the biggest mob haul ever – in an operation revealing thatthe crime group was trying to "go green" by laundering money throughalternative energy companies. Investigators said the assets included more than40 companies, hundreds of parcels of land, buildings, factories, bank accounts,stocks, fast cars and luxury yachts. Most of the seized assets were located inSicily, home of the Cosa Nostra, and in southern Calabria, home of its sistercrime organisation, the ‘Ndrangheta. Investigators said Nicastri’s companiesran numerous wind farms as well as factories that produced solar energy panels.The cupola, or hierarchy, of the Sicilian Mafia has been in freefall since themid-1990s, when police began arresting its most enigmatic and charismaticbosses. Salvatore "The Beast" Riina, who had declared war on thestate and ordered a string of killings, bombings and kidnappings, was arrestedin 1993 after nearly a quarter of a century on the run. His successor, BernardoProvenzano, was captured in 2006 after 43 years on the run. Both Riina andProvenzano hailed from Corleone, the hill town near Palermo made famous by theGodfather movies.

TheLast Thing Rick Boucher Wanted to Hear: Waxman Promises Resurrection ofCap-and-Raid Should Dems Hold Onto the House – Even By a Single Seat. Politico (9/14)reports, "The campaign to pass climate legislation will continue on CapitolHill in 2011 – if Democrats are still in charge, that is. That’s the wordTuesday from a top House Democrat who led the charge over the last two years topass a major cap-and-trade bill. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman won narrow passageof his global warming bill through committee and on the floor during the firstsix months of the Obama administration in 2009. But the legislation haswithered in the Senate ever since, with Republicans and many moderate Democratsbalking at a floor vote during an election year.  Republican congressional candidates have pledged to blockcap-and-trade legislation next year if they are in the majority. Democrats havebeen a bit more circumspect about their agenda plans if they can hold on to theHouse, Senate, or both.  Asked ifhe’d push climate legislation next year if he’s still in a majority leadershipposition, Waxman told POLITICO, "If we haven’t done the job completely thisyear, we’ll continue to fight it next year through the House and the Senate."  Some of the House Democrats from heavyindustrial districts who voted for the Waxman-led climate bill are now underfire on the campaign trail, a point that the congressman from Beverly Hillsalso bemoaned.  "I think we’ve gotto get away from looking at this issue as a partisan issue," Waxman said.

Di-FiNeeds Wi-Fi; Maybe Then, Sen. Feinstein Would Know that Her Approps RiderSeeking to Ban Offshore Energy Along Pacific OCS Is Superfluous.  TheHill (9/14) reports, "The Interior Department spending bill slated formarkup in the Senate Appropriations Committee will re-impose oil-and-gasdrilling bans off the Pacific Coast that lapsed after decades in 2008, Sen.Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said. Obama administration offshore leasing plansdo not contemplate oil-and-gas development off the coasts of California, Oregonor Washington. But Feinstein – who chairs the subcommittee that crafts Interiorspending bills – said in the Capitol Tuesday that the measure would re-instatethe bans to provide extra protection. Offshore drilling bans that Congress hadlong imposed on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts were allowed to lapse in thefall of 2008 during a feverish election-year fight over oil-and-gasoline pricesthat hit record highs that summer. Then-President George W. Bush removedoverlapping White House bans that summer as well. But the measure thatFeinstein has inserted into the fiscal year 2011 spending bill – if successful -will be a sign that the political pendulum has swung away from expandeddrilling in the wake of the BP oil spill. Congressional drilling bans werefirst imposed in federal waters off the central and northern California coastin 1982, and were later expanded to include southern California and the coastsof Washington and Oregon.

ConsiderYourself Bromwich’d: New BOEM Director Says that No New Offshore Reforms WillBe Implemented Unless Congress Appropriates Him a Ton of Cash. DowJones/WSJ (9/14) reports, "Michael Bromwich, the head of the agency thatregulates offshore drilling, pleaded his case Tuesday. "If we don’t getthe additional resources, we won’t be able to do the job effectively," hesaid in a call with reporters. "I think it’s that simple." Mr.Bromwich also said it was "highly unlikely" that the administrationwould extend its moratorium on deep-water oil drilling beyond its scheduledexpiration date of Nov. 30. He said the industry has made progress on measuresto contain and respond to spills. The moratorium is under attack in court fromthe oil and gas industry.  A reportlast week by the Interior Department said the bureau’s inspectors operate"with minimal resources" and noted that the bureau has just 55inspectors in the Gulf of Mexico to inspect about 3,000 oil and gas facilities.While there is broad support in Congress for overhauling Mr. Bromwich’s agency,it isn’t clear whether lawmakers will go along with some of theadministration’s ideas for paying for the reorganization. The White House hasproposed paying for the agency’s budget increase in part by increasing fees onoil and gas companies.  Theproposed fee increases drew criticism Tuesday from the American PetroleumInstitute, which noted that the oil industry already pays the governmentbillions of dollars each year in bids for drilling leases, rental fees,royalties on production and taxes on income.

Soundthe Alarm: AEA Study Laying Out Consequences of Obama Energy Tax Hikes (154KJobs Lost!) Generates Headlines from La Jolla to Leo Carillo, and Up to Pismo.GrandRapid (Mich.) Press (9/13) reports, "President Obama’s proposed energy taxchanges could cost up to 154,000 jobs, according to a new study released today.The report, "Regional and National Economic Impact of Repealing theSection 199 Tax Deduction and Dual-capacity Tax Credit for Oil and GasProducers," comes from economist Joseph R. Mason at LSU. His report wassponsored by Save U.S. Energy Jobs – a project of the American Energy Alliance,a nonprofit organization that engages in public policy advocacy and debateconcerning energy and environmental policies. The AEA is the advocacy arm ofthe Institute for Energy Research (IER), a research group that advocates for"freely-functioning energy markets." According to Mason’s report,Obama’s proposed changes, which would end certain deductions and exemptions forU.S. gas and oil companies, would raise the cost of doing business in the U.S.and result in 154,000 lost jobs by the end of 2011. "Though politiciansthink they are selectively targeting ‘Big Oil’ with these energy tax proposals,they would actually devastate thousands of small American businesses nationwideas well as the workers who depend on them," Mason writes.

ShallowThinking: Interior Continues to Play Hide-the-Permit Shell-Game with EnergyOperators in Shallow Gulf – Leading to Lost Jobs, Squandered Revenue. TheHill (9/13) reports, "Oil-and-gas companies that drill in shallow Gulf ofMexico waters on Monday said they’re at an "impasse" with the InteriorDepartment over permitting policies they allege are bringing the industry to astandstill. The Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition met Monday morning inLouisiana with Michael Bromwich, who directs Interior’s Bureau of Ocean EnergyManagement, but the meeting failed to produce reassurances about speeding uppermits the group is seeking. "With 15 of the total of 46 available shallowwater rigs now idle without permits, and only five permits for new wells issuedsince April, we are clearly at an impasse with the regulators. While we shareDirector Bromwich’s commitment to safety, BOEM must recognize that it cannot continueto shove a square peg into a round hole by treating all offshore drillingoperations the same, disregarding history and geological facts," said Jim Noe,the group’s executive director who is also a top executive with Houston-basedHercules Offshore Inc.

EPAForum on HF was Supposed to Draw 8,000 Protestors, NRDC Told Us – Instead,About 300 Showed Up; And Most Didn’t Even Stay for Lunch. Reuters(9/13) reports, "More than 1,600 officials and citizens were due to testifyover two days at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stakeholder meeting inBinghamton, in upstate New York. Critics and supporters of drilling turned outto voice their opinions as part of the EPA’s two-year study on possible impactsof high-volume horizontal gas drilling on drinking water. Across the road, acrowd held signs reading "Yes to science, No to Paranoia" anddescribed themselves as the "true environmentalists." "We’re notgoing to let some gas company come in and ruin our property," said MarthaKirby, who owns 122 acres in Chenango Forks, New York, that she hopes to leaseto a gas company. "The folks that keep asking for studies, there willnever be enough studies for them," said Travis Windle, a spokesman for theindustry group the Marcellus Shale Coalition. He said deep water oil drillingand shale gas drilling had nothing in common. Asked if he worried the publicwas turning against drilling, he said: "A well-educated landowner is ourstrongest ally." By some estimates, the Marcellus shale holds enough gasto meet U.S. demand for at least a decade. Environmental groups were initiallysupportive of gas drilling, describing it as a domestic "bridge fuel"to renewable sources and away from foreign oil and coal.

LittleHelp from Her Friends: Head of Interstate Gov’t Agency with Quasi-Authorityover Marcellus Activities Attends Fundraiser for Anti-Shale Group. E&E News (9/13,subs. req’d) reports, "It seemed like an innocent request. In the spring, CarolCollier, executive director of the little-known but powerful Delaware RiverBasin Commission (DRBC), accepted an environmental group’s invitation to serveon a panel about natural gas drilling. She saw it as a way to explain what heragency was doing on gas drilling. But to supporters of drilling, it looked liketaking sides, because the panel was part of a fundraiser for an environmentalgroup fighting Marcellus Shale drilling. "They are raising money to bringa lawsuit against you," Marian Schweighofer, head of a pro-drillinglandowners’ group, warned her in an e-mail. She also blasted an urgent bulletinto her organization’s 1,500 members. Collier at first defended her attendance,then backed out, acknowledging to her critics that it presented a"perception problem." "I was not aware [at first] it was reallya fundraiser," Collier said in an interview. It was a taste of thehigh-stakes, high-dollar battle playing out in front of DRBC about the breadthand scope of Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania and New York.

Mutiny:Two Senate Dems Tell Reporters They’ll Support Effort in Approps Committee toMake Clear that EPA Has No Authority to Unilaterally Dismantle US Economy. E&E News (9/14,subs. req’d) reports, "Two Senate Democrats yesterday said they may support anamendment to block U.S. EPA climate rules, increasing the odds of its successwhen the Senate Appropriations Committee votes Thursday on EPA’s budget. Thepotential supporters of an appropriations rider are Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.)and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), both of whom are co-sponsors of a bill from Sen. JayRockefeller (D-W.Va.) that would freeze EPA’s ability to regulate emissionsfrom stationary sources for two years. "I’d like to see what amendmentsare offered, and I’ll make a judgment about that," Dorgan said. "I dothink that it makes sense to have some time here to have Congress make theultimate decision rather than EPA." Chris Gallegos, a spokesman forAppropriations Committee ranking member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), yesterday saidhe expects to see amendments related to greenhouse gas regulations and offshoredrilling. It remains to be seen who would propose the measures and how broadtheir scope would be.

ThatWas Quick: One Week After Enviro Group Clean Energy Works Says It’s Closing UpShop, Influx of Tides Cash Allows It to Keep Churning Out the Garbage. Greenwire (9/13, subs.req’d) reports, "A coalition thwarted in its effort to secure climatelegislation will launch a campaign this week aimed at protecting what it seesas a last line of defense: U.S. EPA’s ability to regulate carbon pollution.Clean Energy Works, an alliance of about 80 environmental, labor, religious,veteran and other groups, plans a host of strategies including television ads,petitions and town hall meetings. "If we’re going to do this in ameaningful way at the federal level, it’s got to happen through EPA," saidSteve Cochran, vice president of Environmental Defense Fund’s climate and airprogram and a member of Clean Energy Works. "There’s no other way to dealwith greenhouse gases at the federal level." The group insists that it’snot disappearing. Politico last week reported that the group planned to shutdown. "They won’t talk about climate change, it will just be ‘pollutioncontrol,’" said Ken Green, resident scholar with American EnterpriseInstitute think tank in an e-mail. "They’ll move to state and local levelsand claim that greenhouse gases are pollutants that need regulating under statelaw, local law, laws affecting waterways, laws affecting species, laws affectingzoning, etc."

ActivistsWant WH to Install Carter-Era Solar Panels on Roof – And Can’t for the Life ofThem Understand Why Obama Political Advisors Don’t Want Anything to Do with It. E&E News (9/14,subs. req’d) reports, "But last week, White House officials essentially shotdown the idea, telling 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben that they woulddeliberate about future possibilities and releasing a vague statement onObama’s commitment to renewable energy. "It’s one thing after the midtermsto compare yourself to Bill Clinton, the comeback kid," said StuartRothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan tip sheet."It’s another thing to compare yourself to someone who was, as president,a failure." Other theories exist as to why the White House is so touchyabout solar panels. Some say the panels would not be effective enough tojustify installing them; others blame it on bureaucracy. The New York Times’Andrew Revkin hypothesized that putting solar panels on the roof would come upagainst difficult security hurdles in a post-9/11 world. McKibben said WhiteHouse officials "wouldn’t give us a reason" for their apprehension."They said only that the WH had ‘a deliberate process’ for deciding, butwhile it may be deliberate it’s also a little obscure since they wouldn’t tellus what it was," he said in an e-mail. As for the touchy Carterconnection, McKibben maintained that while "legend has him as ineffective… clearly in this case he was fairly able" when it came to promotingsolar power.

MatchMade In … : Duke Energy, Long-Sufferer of WH Stockholm Syndrome, AnnouncesPlans to Team Up with Communist China on Solar and Wind. Bloomberg(9/13) reports, "Duke Energy Corp., owner of utilities in the U.S. Southeastand Midwest, may cooperate with Chinese companies on power projects outside ofthe Asian country, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Rogers said. TheCharlotte, North Carolina-based company seeks joint investment in wind power,solar energy and utilities in the U.S., as well as hydro power in SouthAmerica, Rogers said at the World Economic Forum Summer Davos meetings inTianjin, China. "Our focus is really on partnering and going out together as aChinese-American consortium to develop opportunities outside of China," Rogerssaid, without identifying the possible companies. "I say to our partners, let’spartner, we’ll conquer the world. We bring capital, we bring expertise, webring scaling." Duke gets 90 percent of its revenue from the U.S. and about 9percent from South American countries including Peru, Ecuador and Argentina.

Collateral Damage: New AEA StudySheds Light on Real Targets of Obama "BigOil" Tax Hike: 154,000 US Jobs Lost, $68 Billion in Lost Wages. AEA announces (9/13) new study on SaveUSenergyjobs.org,"LSU professor and renowned economist Dr. Joseph R. Mason estimates thatPresident Obama’s proposed energy tax changes would trigger grave economicconsequences. In the newly released "Regional and National Economic Impact ofRepealing the Section 199 Tax Deduction and Dual-capacity Tax Credit for Oiland Gas Producers," Dr. Mason finds the resulting fallout over the next tenyears would include: Initial losses of over 154,000 jobs by the end of 2011,not only in the energy sector but across the whole economy;  More than $341 billion in lost U.S.economic output; and  In excess of$68 billion in lost wages nationwide. "As we’ve seen in its 2011 budget and newly unveiled ‘stimulus’ plans,the Obama administration aims to single out U.S. oil and gas firms and raisethe cost of energy for consumers by eliminating crucial tax credits to whichall taxpayers are entitled," Dr. Mason said. The discriminatory energy taxincreases proposed by the administration will destroy American jobs and raisethe price of energy for consumers," president and CEO of the American EnergyAlliance Tom Pyle said. "President Obama’s proposed changes – which would applysolely to oil and gas companies – have little to do with the debate over offshoredrilling safety or even energy policy in general. This tax grab merelyrepresents punitive policies that are now finding a place in the sun in thepost-BP oil spill crisis political environment."

Bayou Bengal: Sen. LandrieuContinues to Hold WH to Account for Devastation Wrought by Offshore Ban – WillHold Hearing This Week Demanding Admin Defend Its Policy. E&E News (9/13,subs. req’d) reports, "Gulf Coast senators will continue their efforts to chipaway at the Obama administration’s deepwater drilling moratorium Thursday.Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chairwoman Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has calleda hearing of the committee to receive a report from the administration aboutthe effect the moratorium has had on small businesses. She demanded theeconomic impact data in July after administration officials failed to have itfor a previous hearing. Landrieu said Christina Romer, chairwoman of thePresident’s Council of Economic Advisers, told her outside the hearing that theadministration did not have such data but could assemble it by mid-September.The moratorium has been unpopular among political leaders on the Gulf Coast,because oil production is a significant part of the local economy. Thecommittee includes two of Landrieu’s fellow Gulf Coast lawmakers, Sens. DavidVitter (R-La.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Vitter and Landrieu shared centerstage at the July hearing and an August field hearing in Lafayette, La. In bothinstances they heard from a string of witnesses who said the moratorium wasseverely damaging Louisiana’s petroleum-dependent economy. Several smallbusiness owners testified that the effects of the moratorium were tricklingdown to them.

Bombshell: Federal Gov’t ShelledOut $216,625 in Taxpayer Dollars for "No-Bid" Contract to Defenders of Wildlife to Do a Study It Had No Capability to Do. AssociatedPress (9/13) reports, "The federal government hired a New Orleans man for$18,000 to appraise whether news stories about its actions in the Gulf oilspill were positive or negative for the Obama administration, which was keenlysensitive to comparisons between its response and former President George W.Bush’s much-maligned reaction to Hurricane Katrina. The government also spent$10,000 for just over three minutes of video showing a routine offshore riginspection for news organizations but couldn’t say whether any ran the footage.And it awarded a $216,625 no-bid contract for a survey of seabirds to anenvironmental group that has criticized what it calls the "extremeanti-conservation record" of Sarah Palin, a possible 2012 rival toPresident Barack Obama. The contracts were among hundreds reviewed by TheAssociated Press as the government begins to provide an early glimpse atfederal spending since the Gulf disaster in April. While most of the contractsdon’t raise alarms, some could provide ammunition for critics of governmentwaste. The group, Defenders of Wildlife, received a $216,625 noncompetitivecontract from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a seabird survey in the BPspill area. Both Defenders of Wildlife and its political arm, the DefendersAction Fund, have criticized Palin, a former Alaska governor, for supportinguse of low-flying airplanes to hunt wolves and other wildlife in winter.

Mutiny: Even DemocraticGovernors Starting to Join the Fray in Fighting Back Against Usurpation of EPAand Carbon Criminalization – Wyoming the Latest to Say No. Greenwire (9/10, subs.req’d) reports, "EPA is planning to take over permitting programs for statesthat can’t or won’t comply with the Obama administration’s climate rules bynext year, but some officials are arguing that the agency has not given themenough time to align with the federal program and that it is premature to forcestates to comply with regulations that are being challenged in court. DemocraticWyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal yesterday became the latest state official tocriticize EPA’s plans to bring states into alignment. Freudenthal said hisstate will not have the authority to implement the agency’s "tailoringrule" for greenhouse gases — which would require some large facilities tolimit their greenhouse gas emissions — by EPA’s Jan. 2 deadline. Wyoming wouldfirst need to amend state law, which could not occur before the 2011legislative session, he said. "I have serious concerns about EPA’simplementation timelines," Freudenthal wrote in comments to EPA."Given that there are dozens of petitions concerning not only theTailoring Rule but also the foundation for that rule, there is a highlikelihood that any permitting strategy imposed on the states at this junctureis premature." Dozens of groups including states, industries and advocacygroups have asked a federal appeals court to review EPA’s tailoring rule,endangerment finding and other climate policies in cases that are pending.

This Is Rich: Cal-Berkeley "Scholars"Say Efforts to Delay Job-Killing AB 32 from Taking Effect Would Be Bad forEconomy – Since It Might Lead to "Legal Confusion" (!) ClimateWire (9/10,subs. req’d) Suspension of California’s climate law would lead to regulatoryuncertainty and likely cause a domino effect in other states looking to limitgreenhouse gas emissions, argues a new analysis from prominent faculty membersat the University of California, Berkeley. The study on what effect Proposition23 — which will ask California voters this fall to delay the climate law –might have on the state’s legal system and economy was conducted by UCBerkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment. The conclusion wasessentially this: Don’t vote for Prop 23. "Since most significant climatepolicy efforts in California are linked to [the climate law], its suspensioncould lead to legal and regulatory confusion," said UC Berkeley lawprofessor and co-author of the analysis Daniel Farber, who believes thereferendum would freeze climate regulations indefinitely because it is tied tounemployment dropping to 5.5 percent for a full year. Also on board theanalysis were Daniel Kammen, a UC Berkeley professor of energy and formeradviser to President Obama (who this week was appointed to lead the WorldBank’s clean energy strategy), and Michael Hanemann, an environmental economistand professor at the college. Both said suspending the climate law, A.B. 32, isbad idea.

This Is Even Better: SeparateReport Says AB 32 Will Help Mitigate Price Shocks at Pump – Since It WillEnsure Gas Prices Remain High All theTime. LATimes (9/13) reports, "California’s 2006 global warming law would save thestate’s consumers as much as $670 per household in 2020, in the event of aglobal surge in the price of crude oil, according to a report released Mondayby economists for alternative energy advocacy groups. The U.S. economy hasexperienced five price shocks over the past three decades in which crude oilprices rose an average of 179% in one year. The study is aimed at countering aNovember ballot initiative, Proposition 23, which would delay implementation ofthe global warming law. Its analysis is based on projections for 2020, andconservatively assumes only a doubling of crude oil and natural gas prices. The55-page report was authored by economists from three organizations: Energy IndependenceNow, the Center for Resource Solutions and the Environmental Defense Fund.Proponents of Prop 23, however, say the global warming law, which promotessolar, wind and alternative fuels to replace oil, gas and coal, will increasethe price of energy. They project up to a 60% rise in electricity rates, up to57% higher natural gas rates, and a $3.7 billion annual increase in the cost ofgasoline and diesel fuel.

Bode’s In Motion: AWEA BurningThru Every Dollar It’s Got This Week to Put Full-Court Press on Lawmakers -Demand They Pass Expensive Energy Mandates Before They Leave. Govs. Chet Culver and Don Carcieri write (9/13)in Politico,"We are the leaders of the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition, a bipartisan grouprepresenting citizens across the nation. We convened to address some of America’smost pressing needs – job creation, secure energy supplies and cost-effectivecarbon emissions reductions. Governors from California and Oregon to Minnesotaand Maine agree that among the best ways to address these issues is to harnessthe economic and environmental benefits of domestic renewable electricityproduction. The way to do that is by passing a strong RES – to ensure rapidgrowth of the nation’s wind and other renewable electricity sources. We aretoday sending a letter to Senate leadership, urging the prompt adoption of astrong national RES. A strong RES must be the cornerstone of our nation’s newclean energy economy. It won’t mean just wind farms in Iowa or off the coast ofRhode Island – though it would expand job opportunities in both our states. TheRES remains the most economically efficient way to create opportunity all overthe country and throughout the supply-chain in energy manufacturing; newproject construction and associated transmission, and continuing operation andmaintenance of these facilities. We all agree that creating jobs must be a national priority.

Alaska Gov.Takes Salazar to Court Over Offshore Moratorium; Get This, Salazar Flack DeniesSuch a Moratorium Exists (!) TheAP(9/9) reports, "The state claimed Thursday that the Interior Departmentillegally halted offshore drilling in Arctic waters, even though the departmentsaid there’s no such moratorium in place. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said InteriorSecretary Ken Salazar illegally imposed a moratorium because he failed toconsult with state officials, did not consider the economic effects and did notissue a written decision explaining the basis for the action. Such requirementsare specified under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Aspokeswoman for the Interior Department, Kendra Barkoff, said there is nomoratorium on offshore drilling in Alaska and therefore no basis to sue.Salazar last week had referred to a moratorium on Arctic drilling but laterclarified his remarks to say there was not. At the heart of Alaska’s argumentis Salazar’s decision this summer to withhold approval for Shell Oil to drillexploratory wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Parnell said Alaska’s economicgrowth potential was at risk by Salazar’s decision. Shell Alaska spokesmanCurtis Smith said in an e-mail that the company believes Alaska is justified insuing. "Our progress in Alaska has been severely compromised by unforeseenevents that are not related to our specific program in the Alaskaoffshore," he said. "Our inability to drill is not only costly toShell, but also to a state that is working hard to create jobs and find new oilsupplies for the Trans Alaska Pipeline by promoting responsible offshoredevelopment."

You Read ThatIndependent Report BP Issued Yesterday? Well, Not so "Independent"Today. Turns Out Report Had to Clear the Legal Department Before it was Issued. WallStreet Journal (9/10) reports, "BP PLC, which billed its DeepwaterHorizon inquiry as an independent look at the disaster, said its lawyers wereallowed to "review" the long-awaited report before it was published.A BP spokesman said its lawyers provided "legal advice and counsel to the[investigative] team," but wouldn’t elaborate on what exactly thatentailed. He also declined to characterize the nature of the review, and whatchanges, if any, the lawyers made to BP’s 193-page report on the April accidentthat triggered the worst U.S. offshore oil spill. But he said the BP lawyers"were walled off from the rest of the company." The spokesman alsosaid some "internal and external" lawyers for BP worked withinvestigators "in order to interact with lawyers for other companies toobtain evidence for the investigation," and to "assist in thepreservation of evidence for litigation and ongoing investigations." Thedisclosure raises questions about the extent of the independence of BP’sreport, which was released Wednesday and assigned much of the blame for theaccident to BP’s contractors, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. The U.K. oilgiant has said its four-month investigation on the causes of the accident,which killed 11 workers, was carried out without interference from seniormanagement. Transocean, Halliburton and others quickly blasted the report fornot being tough enough on BP itself, with some legal analysts suggesting thereport served as a preview of BP’s future legal strategy. As operator of theDeepwater Horizon rig, BP faces many lawsuits over the accident."

Cry Me a River.Steel Workers File Complainant Against China for "unfairly subsidizing itsclean energy industry," We Ask, What About the US Subsidies? They NotUnfair? NewYork Times (9/10) reports, "A broad trade case filed on Thursday by anAmerican labor union, accusing China of unfairly subsidizing its clean energyindustry, pressed a hot-button jobs issue in the United States during aCongressional election season. But even if the Obama administration agrees topursue the case, it could prove hard to resolve, as both countries considertheir industries crucial to energy security and future economic growth. Thefiling, by the 850,000-member United Steelworkers union, accuses China ofviolating the World Trade Organization’s free-trade rules by subsidizingexports of clean energy equipment like solar panels and wind turbines. Throughits policies, fair or otherwise, China has helped turn its makers of thatequipment into the global leaders, while manufacturers in the United States andEurope have struggled financially, cut jobs and in some cases moved operationsto China. President Obama has cited clean energy manufacture as a priority oneconomic and environmental grounds, and in a speech this week, he called for "ahomegrown clean energy industry." Mr. Obama has shown a willingness to confrontChina before, imposing steep tariffs a year ago on Chinese tire imports – adecision that China is itself challenging before a W.T.O. panel in Geneva,which is expected to give an initial ruling this month."

Anti-Energy,Anti-Fracing Administration Kicks it up a Notch Today With EPA Calling onService Companies to "Voluntarily" Disclose HF Additives. PittsburghPost-Gazette (9/10) reports, "As part of an ongoing scientific studyof the environmental and health impacts of hydraulic fracturing, the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency has asked nine companies to disclose thechemical components of fluid used in the gas drilling technology also known as"fracking." The voluntary requests were issued by the EPA Thursday toBJ Services, Complete Production Services, Halliburton, Key Energy Services,Patterson-UTI, PRC Inc., Schlumberger, Superior Well Services and Weatherford.The information gathered will be used in the two-year federal study that beganin March to determine the impacts of fracking fluid chemicals on drinking watersupplies and also standard operating procedures at drill sites. Hydraulicfracturing uses large amounts of water — between 1 million and 4 milliongallons per well — mixed with sand and chemicals, some of them toxic — andpumps the mixture under pressure more than a mile underground to crack layersof shale rock and release the natural gas it contains. The Marcellus Shaleformation underlies about three-fourths of Pennsylvania and portions of NewYork, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia. The Pennsylvania Departmentof Environmental Protection website on Marcellus Shale activities lists 84chemicals used by well drilling companies in the state."

Pelosi Meetswith Canadian Energy Ministers to Talk Oil Sands; Chances are She ExperiencedThis Reliable Energy Source First Hand on Her Flight Home. EE News (subs req’d, 9/9)reports, "Environmental groups today pleaded their case with House SpeakerNancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after her meeting last night with Canadian officials todiscuss the nation’s controversial oil sands. Pelosi and Rep. Ed Markey(D-Mass.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence andGlobal Warming, are in Ottawa this week, meeting with Canadian leaders as wellas environmental and business groups to discuss energy and environmentalissues, including the oil sands. "As the main customer of tar sands oil,the U.S. has a leadership role to play where our governments at home arefailing," said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental DefenceCanada, after meeting with Pelosi. "We took the time to clarify theserious environmental problems that exist right now in the tar sands and therisks posed by expansion." Pelosi and Markey met last night with premiersof three Canadian provinces as well as federal environmental officials. AlbertaPremier Ed Stelmach called the meeting "an open and candiddiscussion" that "acknowledged that the development of oil sands hadits challenges." But he stressed that Alberta is taking steps to"balance energy security with environmental responsibility and economicgrowth." Stelmach told Canada’s CBC News that his goal was to "appealto her sense of reason, to communicate very clearly that we continue to befocused on environmental improvement in developing the oil sands."

Fracing 101: PennState Researcher Takes to the Pages of Pa. Newspaper to Explain the Process ofHydraulic-Fracturing. David Yoxtheimer  (9/9) writes in the LockHaven Express, "This week’s article provides an overview of hydraulicfracturing technology (commonly known as hydrofracing or fracing), thetechnology used in drilling within the Marcellus Shale, and addresses some ofthe challenges and concerns about fracing technology. Hydrofracing is a processwhere water, pressure and additives/chemicals are used to create small cracksin the Marcellus Shale. These small cracks are more than a mile under thesurface of the earth but are what enable natural gas to be released from thevery hard and dense Marcellus Shale. Although the technology has evolved overtime, the key concepts of hydraulic fracturing have been around for more than60 years and used on more than a million wells in the United States to produceoil and natural gas from deep geologic reservoirs. North America has abundantnatural gas resources. However, natural gas is often "trapped" withintight rock formations that cannot be produced without the use fracturingtechnology. As the United States looks to increase its domestic fossil fuel andrenewable energy portfolio, natural gas extraction has become a key part ofthat portfolio. Advances in directional drilling and hydraulic fracturingtechnology have unlocked unconventional shales, like the Marcellus, and theavailability of natural gas in North America. That being said, development ofnatural gas is not without its critics as many environmental groups andlandowners are raising concerns about the potential for water resource impactsfrom the hydrofracing process."

How Bad is thePolitical Environment for Democrats? So Bad that Affordable Energy Advocate andW. Va. Gov. in Tough Fight for Once Safe Senate Seat. EE News (subs req’d, 9/9) reports,"Democrat Joe Manchin’s bid for the open West Virginia Senate seat — onceconsidered a sure thing — is now very much in doubt, according to a new poll.In a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted yesterday, 50 percent of respondentssaid they would vote for Manchin, West Virginia’s sitting governor. But 45percent said they support Manchin’s Republican opponent, business mogul JohnRaese. The poll has a 4.5-point margin of error. Following the poll, Rasmussenchanged its classification of the race from leaning toward Manchin to a tossup.Rasmussen two weeks ago had rated the race as "solidly Democratic"after Manchin cruised to the Democratic nomination. Manchin led Raese by a 51percent to 35 percent margin in a Rasmussen poll conducted in July, shortlyafter the state Legislature approved a special election for the seat thatopened after Sen. Robert Byrd (D) died in June. The seat is currently held bySen. Carte Goodwin (D), a Manchin appointee who is stepping down at the end ofthis term. Manchin is running on his record as governor, promising he willbring fiscal discipline and moderate pragmatism to Washington, D.C."

TheWorm Turns: US Agency Loaned Mexican Gov’t More than $1 Billion Last Year toHelp State-Run Company Develop Energy Offshore – And More in the Offing ThisYear. CNS News (9/8) reports, "TheU.S. Export-Import Bank, an independent federal agency, loaned more than $1billion to the Mexican state oil company PEMEX in 2009 to support the company’soil drilling in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The bank has another $1 billion inloans in the pipeline for 2010, unless Congress objects. On May 27, after theBritish Petroleum oil spill, President Obama imposed a moratorium on U.S.deepwater drilling in the Gulf, effecting 33 deepwater drilling rigs in theregion. PEMEX was the Export-Import Bank’s largest borrower in 2009 and hasborrowed $8.3 billion from the U.S. federal government since 1998. Under the2009 loan agreements, PEMEX agreed to contract with American firms and purchaseequipment from American manufacturers in exchange for the money. One loan,worth $600 million, went to finance the development of 18 oil and natural gasfields in the Bay of Campeche in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Campeche is thearea where the majority of Mexico’s oil and gas production takes place and islocated just north of the Yucatan Peninsula. Another loan, worth $300 million,went to fund the building of oil production facilities in Mexico’s Cantarelloffshore oil field, which provides a large portion of Mexico’s oil production,according to EIA.

Dim:Federal Mandate Forcing Folks to Buy More Expensive Lightbulbs an Inconveniencefor Most – and an Outright Job Killer for 200 Workers in Virginia. WashingtonPost (9/8) reports, "The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescentlight bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sadexit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas AlvaEdison’s innovations in the 1870s. The remaining 200 workers at the plant herewill lose their jobs. "Now what’re we going to do?" said TobySavolainen, 49, who like many others worked for decades at the factory, makingbulbs now deemed wasteful. What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standardsessentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millionsof American households to switch to more efficient, expensive bulbs.Everybody’s jumping on the green bandwagon," said Pat Doyle, 54, who hasworked at the plant for 26 years. But "we’ve been sold out. First sold outby the government. Then sold out by GE. " Doyle was speaking after a shiftlast month surrounded by several co-workers around a picnic table near thepunch clock. Many of the workers have been at the plant for decades, and mostappeared to be in their 40s and 50s. Several worried aloud about findinganother job. "When you’re 50 years old, no one wants you," Savolainensaid. It was meant half in jest, but some of the men nod grimly.

SixMos. Ago, Clean Energy Works Had 45 Staff in DC and 200 Paid Organizers in theStates; Today? They’re Shuttering the Place – Sending Folks Back to Sierra,NRDC. Politico(9/8) reports, "Climate advocates stung by defeat in the Senate are folding oneof their big umbrella lobbying groups. Clean Energy Works, a coalition of 80environmental, religious, veteran and labor groups, will phase out itsoperations this fall as Democratic congressional leaders abandon plans for asweeping bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions. At its peak, the coalition had200 field organizers in key states and more than 45 staffers based out of a "warroom" in downtown Washington. It is led by Paul Tewes, who ran President BarackObama’s 2008 campaign operations in Iowa and other battleground states. "If youcame over from LCV, you’re going back to LCV," Di Martino said, referring tothe League of Conservation Voters. "If you’re a consultant like me, you’llhopefully go on to other like-minded campaigns." Despite the ultimate failureto enact a climate bill, Di Martino and others tied to the coalition said theydid their job well on the communications front. The commitment to collaborationsecured impressive and tangible results: hundreds of disciplined message eventsacross the country and thousands of earned media clips."

SeeIf You Can Follow This One: Green Pork Subsidies in US are Outrageously High,But Not as High as In Communist China – So Labor Folks Are Mad. Bloomberg(9/9) reports, "The United Steelworkers union said it will file a tradecomplaint with the U.S. government against renewable-energy products fromChina, urging an investigation of subsidies and preferences given by thatnation. The case "reveals five major areas of protectionist and predatorypractices utilized by the Chinese to develop their green sector at the expenseof production and job creation here in the U.S.," the American union said in astatement, indicating specifics will be provided later today.  The complaint that China is doing toomuch to help its companies expand their clean-energy sales contrasts with internationalefforts to encourage renewable energy and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions inorder to curb global warming. Nations including the U.S. and China plan to meetin Cancun, Mexico, at the end of November to renew climate-change talks.Legislation to limit carbon emissions and set requirements for the use ofrenewable energy have stalled in the U.S. Senate. The union’s filing will bemade to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The Obama administration willhave 45 days to decide if it will investigate the petition under U.S. law.

NortheastPA, the Region that Helped USA Win Two World Wars Thanks to Abundance ofAnthracite Coal, Found to Have Massive Reserves of Marcellus Natural Gas. Wilkes-BarreCitizens Voice (9/9) reports, "Eight of the 10 wells that produced thelargest volume of gas last year are in Susquehanna County, including the topwell – Chesapeake Appalachia LLC’s Clapper 2H well in Auburn Township – whichproduced 2.8 billion cubic feet of gas over 270 days. Of the top 20 producingwells, all but one are in Susquehanna, Bradford or Tioga counties. RaymondDeacon, an analyst with Pritchard Capital Partners LLC, sorted the wells’production depending on how long they were online in order to measure theirperformance. "It seemed like in every case, all the counties in thenortheast really stood out as being among the strongest in terms ofproduction," he said. "It shows the northeast looks much moreprolific in terms of how much you’re getting out of the wells." The actualnumbers last year surpassed the company’s expectations, even though"expectations were quite high," Engelder said. Matt Pitzarella, aspokesman for Range Resources, which reported a total production of about 35billion cubic feet of natural gas and 402,000 barrels of natural gas liquidslast year, said the report indicates what the industry believed, "which isthat it is a very large natural gas discovery and could be one of the largestanywhere when it’s all said and done. It’s just going to take time."Pitzarella added that the "very promising" production numbers in thereport represent the earliest stages of the shale development, and it willstill take several years for each well to break even.

RogerMaris Smiles: North Dakota, Previously a State with a Population of 12 andDeclining Oil Production, Turns the Beat Around Thanks to HF and Bakken Shale. IPAA/EID’s Lee Fuller writes in the Bismarck(N.D.) Tribune (9/9), "In an Aug. 30 letter, Roberta Nelson perpetuates ahost of unfounded claims related to the use of hydraulic fracturing, atechnology that’s played a key role in helping North Dakota leverage theopportunity of the Bakken into jobs and opportunity for everyone in the state.Unfortunately, to hear Nelson tell the story, hydraulic fracturing is "exempt"from a whole host of federal laws, which she then turns around and blames onthe former vice president. Civics 101 aside, here are the actual facts:Fracturing has been used safely in the United States for more than 60 years,and has never in that time been directly regulated by the EPA. For decades,that responsibility has remained with states, which continue to compile aremarkable record of oversight and enforcement. How good? In 60 years, not asingle case of groundwater contamination has been credibly tied to hydraulicfracturing. Don’t believe us? Just ask the EPA – it confirmed as much to theU.S. Senate earlier this year. Fortunately, support for the Bakken and thecritical energy technologies that make its development possible is somethingyou’ll find from parties in North Dakota.

OnlyYou Can Prevent Forest Conspirers: National Park Service Announces Plan toSpend Millions of Taxpayer Dollars to Advocate on Behalf of CarbonCriminalization. EnergyGuardian (9/9, subs. req’d) reports, "The National Park Service is enactinga sweeping climate change strategy aimed at reducing its greenhouse gasemissions, protecting natural landmarks from the impact of global warming andusing its unique role as the country’s nature educator to better familiarizeAmericans with emerging threats and solutions. NPS Director Jarvis unveiled thenew policy Wednesday and named a longtime climate scientist, Dr. Leigh Welling,to oversee the agency’s Climate Change Response Program. "Global climate changethreatens the integrity of our national parks. It challenges the NPS mission toleave park resources unimpaired for future generations unlike any threat in ourhistory," the agency’s new plan states. "We will reduce the National ParkService carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gases emitted through NPSactivities) through energy-efficient and sustainable practices and integratethese practices into planning and operations," the plan added. "Finally,through clear. directed communication, the NPS will raise employees’ and thepublic’s awareness of the implications of climate change and inspire them totake steps to address this challenge."

FormerMMS Set to Make Tons of New Hires, Spend Billions More to Ramp Up Regulationson OCS – One Problem: No One’s Actually Producing Out There Right Now. E&E News (9/8,subs. req’d) reports, "The agency today released a blueprint report to"reinforce and expand" reforms at the Bureau of Ocean EnergyManagement, Regulation and Enforcement, the former Minerals Management Service.The report recommends that the agency increase the number of offshore inspectors,conduct more surprise inspections, and stiffen fines and penalties forcompanies that violate federal rules, among other suggestions. "The report… is honest; it doesn’t sugarcoat challenges we know are there,"Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. "It provides a blueprint for solvingthem, and it shows that we are on precisely the right track with our reformagenda." Salazar said the agency will request some $100 million inadditional funds in an amended 2011 budget request to hire new inspectors,strengthen training programs and implement other recommended reforms. ButSalazar and BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich stressed that today’s report doesnot signal the end of the administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling. Adecision whether to lift or prolong that ban won’t come until BOEMRE issues aninterim final rule on offshore drilling safety later this fall, they said.

Obama’s PiggyBank: As Economy Continues to Struggle, White House Looks Increase Taxes on Oiland Gas Industry to Fund Second Stimulus Package. TheHill (9.6) reports, "President Obama Monday called for an upfrontinvestment of $50 billion to improve roads, railways and runways as part of alarger six-year strategy to update the nation’s aging infrastructure. Obamaannounced the strategy at the Milwaukee Laborfest in Wisconsin hosted by theAFL-CIO and Milwaukee Area Labor Council and was joined by Labor SecretaryHilda Solis and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The president wantsCongress to approve this first-year $50 billion "as soon as possible" and payfor it by scaling back oil and gas industry tax incentives, a senioradministration official said. "Over the next six years, we are going to rebuild150,000 miles of our roads – enough to circle the world six times," Obama said,according to remarks prepared for delivery the White House released ahead ofhis speech Monday afternoon. "We’re going to lay and maintain 4,000 miles ofour railways – enough to stretch coast-to-coast. "We’re going to restore150 miles of runways and advance a next generation air-traffic control systemto reduce travel time and delays for American travelers – something I thinkfolks across the political spectrum could agree on."

Shrimp and OilFestival Marks 75th Anniversary in Morgan City, La, "We Still Need Both…That’s what makes our community. That’s our lifeblood." LATimes (9.6) reports, "After the BP oil spill, the organizers of one ofAmerica’s more unusual civic celebrations began fielding the phone calls, theones that invariably asked: Are you really going to have it this year? Inresponse, they erected a big billboard on U.S. 90 as it winds west from NewOrleans through the heart of Cajun country. "YES," the sign said."We Are Having 75th Annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival." MorganCity’s civic leaders never doubted they would green-light their paean tocrustaceans and crude, even though one of the featured industries has beenthreatening, of late, to wipe the other one out. "We still needboth," said Lee Darce, assistant director and vendor chairwoman of thefestival, as she drove a golf cart on this muggy September Sunday among busybooths hawking boiled shrimp, shrimp on a stick, bacon-wrapped shrimp andshrimp etouffee. "That’s what makes our community. That’s ourlifeblood." Mayor Tim Matte is aware that the festival can seem pretty weirdto outsiders. "But we’ve always thought it’s unusual that they think it’sunusual," he said. "As far as the workers are concerned, there’salways been a kinship of working over the water." Matte and others say theoil spill, instead of smothering this year’s festivities, has infused them witha new intensity: a yearning for catharsis after a soul-crushing summer, a hopefor a return to a lost harmony between the two industries, and a celebration ofa culture that is resilient enough to withstand the worst. "There’s aspirit here that we’re going to overcome this," said Adams, carrying hisking’s crown on the city docks Sunday morning."

Seeing theAttention Waxman and Markey Received During BP Oil Spill, Nick Joe Rahall Quickto Call for Hearings/Investigation into Mariner Rig Fire; Won’t be Outdone ThisTime Around. Politico (9.3)reports, "The House is beginning to ratchet up its investigatory power inthe wake of the second offshore drilling accident this year. House NaturalResources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) on Friday sent InteriorSecretary Ken Salazar a letter requesting a slew of documents, saying he is "alarmed"by the disaster aboard the Mariner Energy rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Thisfollows on the heels of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s request thatMariner brief committee members. Those against offshore drilling likely will beemboldened by this disaster. The fire didn’t happen in deep water but, rather,in just 350 feet of water, a fact Rahall highlighted in his letter to Salazar.Rahall seems to be readying for a full-blown investigation, asking forunredacted copies of several records, including well activity reports, requeststhat Mariner made to modify its drilling plans and the rig’s inspectionreports. He also is asking for e-mails between Mariner employees and thegovernment – federal malfeasance has been a particular interest of committeesinvestigating oil drilling disasters."

Big Wind Goeson Defense. Study out Earlier This Year Sheds Light on Carbon Footprint of WindEnergy; Bode and Co. Go on PR Blitz to Discredit Study. TheOklahoman (9.5) reports, "The Obama administration’s emphasis on cleanenergy and the fight in Congress over energy legislation is creating sometension among certain sectors, including the natural gas and wind powerindustries. The American Wind Energy Association has been fighting to counter arecent column in The Wall Street Journal that challenged a key selling point ofwind – that it reduces carbon emissions. The industry also is defending itsfederal subsidies, arguing that they are actually less than those received byoil and gas companies. "We’ve been under attack by the fossil fuelindustry for the last six months," Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind EnergyAssociation, told reporters in July. Now, her organization is claiming that anoil and gas company trade group and think tanks financed in part with energymoney are spreading misinformation to discredit wind as a renewable energysource. The Western Energy Alliance, formerly the Independent PetroleumAssociation of Mountain States, released a report earlier this year that concludedrenewable electricity mandates had actually caused pollution increases in Texasand Colorado because coal and natural gas plants operated less efficiently toaccommodate the variability in wind sources. The study was cited in The WallStreet Journal column, written by Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at theManhattan Institute, and that column was then cited by the Heritage Foundation,a conservative think tank in Washington. Bryce questioned whether wind energy’scontribution to reducing emissions would ever be significant and argued thatthe emphasis should be on natural gas."

LouisianaOfficials Hit the Road to Talk Water Management, Hydraulic Fracturing in anEffort to Educate, Get the Facts Out on Shale Gas Development. ShreveportTimes (9.7) reports, "As predicted several years ago, water has becomea critical limiting factor as the natural gas industry expands from one shaleplay to the next, according to Gary Hanson, director of the Red River WatershedManagement Institute at LSU-Shreveport. Hydraulic fracturing is required in all of the gas shale plays and it iscrucial that industry continues to work with northwest Louisiana communitiesand voluntarily use predominantly surface water or the Red River AlluvialAquifer instead of the limited Carrizo-Wilcox groundwater for fracing. "Byaddressing our water concerns in a proactive manner and allowing development toproceed in a responsible way, we are a model to other areas of the countrywhere unfortunately, fear, instead of facts, is driving resistance to shale gasdevelopment," Hanson said. As a result of Louisiana’s success, Hanson hasbeen invited to several water and energy venues in the Southwest and on theEast Coast to share the story and lessons learned. In one of the sessions setnext month in Pennsylvania, Hanson will be joined by Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle,state conservation Commissioner Jim Welsh and Mike Mathis of Chesapeake Energy.Recent water policies, including the newly adopted surface water use law, arebeing driven by the Haynesville activity. However, DNR’s approach shows"institutions that are typically considered rigid and inflexible can infact become flexible and adaptive with the right leadership," Hansonadded. "In an unprecedented manner, but typical of his hands-on managementstyle, Scott Angelle (interim lieutenant governor) has chaired numerous andlengthy Ground Water Commission meetings throughout the state. This has givenLouisiana residents, statewide, the opportunity to attend and have their waterconcerns heard."

OffshoreDevelopment Continues in China; Chevron Purchases Stake in South China SeaProject. WallStreet Journal (9.7) reports, "Chevron Corp. has acquired operatinginterests in three exploration blocks in the South China Sea, and China’sgovernment has given approval for BP PLC to take a stake in part of thedeep-water acreage despite its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a statement by CnoocLtd. said Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Theacquisitions from Devon Energy Corp. underscore how western energy giants areseeking to stake out new positions in the South China Sea, after largelyabandoning the area decades ago when shallower wells turned up dry. They alsoshow that BP’s involvement in the worst U.S. oil spill in history isn’tstopping governments from allowing the U.K. major to participate in newoffshore drilling, or rival producers from selecting it as a partner indeep-water projects. Chevron has taken a 59.18% interest in block 42/05 fromDevon Energy, and BP will hold the remaining interest. Water depths in theblock-located around 250 kilometers south of Hong Kong-range from 198 meters tomore than 1,980 meters across an area spanning nearly 7,000 square kilometers.San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron has also acquired 100% interests in nearbyblocks 53/30 and 64/18 in separate deals with Devon."

Harry Reid’sClean Energy Summit Kicks off Today; Wonder if He’ll Address Nevada’s 14.2Percent Unemployment Rate.  LasVegas Review-Journal (9.7) reports, "The National Clean Energy Summitlooks like it’s running a little low on wattage. Tuesday will bring the thirdannual installment of the summit, a creation of Senate Majority Leader HarryReid, D-Nev. And when the curtain rises on the event at the University ofNevada, Las Vegas, it will show considerably less star power than 2009’sversion, which featured former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President AlGore, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, amongothers. This year’s summit boasts an array of prominent policymakers andbusiness leaders, to be sure, but no participants beyond Reid himself andnatural-gas magnate T. Boone Pickens carry household names or holdCabinet-level positions in the Obama administration. Attendees includingventure capitalist John Doerr, former White House Chief of Staff John Podestaand Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee all serve in important positions,but you won’t see them collecting Oscars or appearing on the cover of theNational Enquirer (wait — that could be a good thing). The summit will alsolaunch a parade of economic and fiscal studies. Consider the Center forAmerican Progress Action Fund, an event organizer that will use the summit torelease the results of a study evaluating states on policies that promoteenergy efficiency (Nevada’s set to earn high marks, the group’s researcherssaid Tuesday). But some clean-energy watchers say other factors have forcedchanges in the summit’s guest list. Start with the economy. Nevada inparticular continues to suffer a deep recession, and the rest of the nationisn’t exactly enjoying a roaring recovery. That makes clean energy, with itshigher costs and federal subsidies, politically unpopular these days, said JackSpencer, a research fellow in nuclear energy policy for the HeritageFoundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C."

Shameless.Nike/WVU Football Introduce Uniform to Honor 29 Miners That Passed on April 5;Greenies Pressure Nike to Change Design on Bases That Uniform "Promotes"Mountain Top Mining. The AP(9.2) reports, "After angry environmentalists objected to a Nikepromotional ad for a new West Virginia University football uniform, theathletic apparel giant said Thursday it will modify a graphic depicting amountaintop removal mine. Nike issued a statement through the university,repeating what the school had said earlier in the day: The new black and whitePro Combat uniform was designed to honor the heritage of coal mining and 29 menkilled in the April explosion at Upper Big Branch mine. "We are modifyingthe graphic of the player on our website to address concerns," thestatement said. The Oregon-based company did not return repeated messages fromThe Associated Press. The Mountaineers will wear the coal-themed uniform foronly one game this season, the Nov. 26 Backyard Brawl at Pittsburgh. Nike paidfor the new gear. The problem environmental activists had with the ad was notthe color of the gear – off-white that appears coated in coal dust – or thenumber 29 on the coal-black helmets. It’s the depiction of a mountaintopremoval mine behind the image of a player, complete with flat, treelessmountaintop, the sound of an explosion and the image of falling rock." Click HEREfor Nike/WVU Promotional Video.

One Week, TwoFederal Judges Rebuke Obama Admin. Anti-Energy Agenda. This Time, Court Rules77 Leases in Utah Were Revoked Without Merit, Slazar "exceeded hisstatutory authority." Oiland Gas Journal (9.2) reports, "US Interior Sec. Ken Salazar exceededhis authority when he order 77 federal oil and gas leases in Utah withdrawn inearly 2009, a federal court judge ruled on Sept. 1 in Salt Lake City. But USDistrict Judge Dee Benson also ruled that plaintiffs waited too long tochallenge Salazar’s action. Commissioners from three eastern Utah counties andthree area independent producers who brought the suit indicated that the judge’sdecision keeps an unacceptable precedent from being established. Salazarordered the leases canceled early in 2009, soon after he became Interiorsecretary, after the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued atemporary restraining order on Dec. 22, 2008, preventing the US Bureau of LandManagement from issuing them. The tracts were among 116 parcels sold at aregularly scheduled lease sale on Dec. 19. The Southern Utah WildernessAlliance had sued 2 days earlier to block their being offered. "In this case,the secretary exceeded his statutory authority by withdrawing leases afterdetermining which parcels were to be leased and after holding a competitivelease during which the BLM named the plaintiffs high responsible bidders," saidBenson. "Ultimately, though, the plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred," hecontinued. "Faced with a strict statute of limitations, the plaintiffs failedto file their suit within 90 days of the secretary’s final decision."

Anti-EnergyAdvocates/POLITICO/Waxman Licking Their Chops After Rig Catches Firein Gulf, We’re Just Glad Everyone’s Safe. The AP(9.3) reports, "Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire inthe Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Mostnotably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but thedistinctions don’t end there. Even though the Mariner Energy-owned platformthat erupted in flames Thursday was just 200 miles west of the site of thespill, everything from the structures to the operations to the safety deviceswere different. Yet, when word spread of the latest mishap, Gulf Coastresidents could only think of the three-month BP spill that began after thedrilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers. "It’sunbelievable," said Sophie Esch, 28, a graduate student at Tulane who isfrom Berlin, Germany. "They should finally stop drilling in the Gulf. Theyshould shut down all the drilling out there and not give permission to do anymore. They’ve shown that it’s just unsafe." Mariner Energy officials saidthere were seven active production wells on its platform, and they were shutdown shortly before the fire broke out. The Coast Guard said they wouldcontinue to monitor the platform to make sure no leaks. Houston-based MarinerEnergy said it did not know what caused the fire. The platform was still intactand a small portion appears burned, Cassidy said. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindalsaid the company told him the fire began in 100 barrels of light oil condensate."

Are Weather andClimate One in the Same? According to the UN, No, Except When it Suits TheirArgument. TheHill (9.2) reports, "Environmental ministers meeting in Geneva todaywere told a series of weather disasters point to the need for action on climatechange. The ministers are attending a session at the United Nations focused onfinancing a shift to green technologies in poorer countries. More than 40countries are attending the meetings. Christiana Figueres, the U.N.’s climate chief, said a string of weathercalamities point to the need for swift action, according to AFP.  Figueres mentioned the devastatingfloods in Pakistan and fires in Russia, which she said were a wakeup call forthe need for a new global climate-change agreement. "Science will show whetherand how those events are related to climate change caused by humanity’sgreenhouse-gas emissions, but the point is clear: We cannot afford to faceescalating disasters of that kind," she said, according to AFP. The talks inGeneva run until Friday and are focused on how to provide financing for poorercountries to shift from fossil fuels."

Double-Dip.Congressman Submits Earmark Request for "Non-Profit" to DevelopOffshore Wind Technology. Weeks Later, Same Congressman Signs Letter in Supportof Same Project for Energy Dept. Funding. PittsburghTribune-Review (9.3) reports, "Rep. Joe Sestak said Thursday he made amistake by failing to connect two requests from the same person, one of whichcould have led to a $350,000 earmark going to a for-profit company in violationof House rules. The requester, Drew Devitt, applied for the earmark in Marchfor his nonprofit Thomas Paine Foundation, to develop a type of wind turbinethat could be located miles offshore. A month later, he asked Sestak,D-Delaware County, to write a letter to the Department of Energy supporting thesame project. This time, the letter identified Devitt’s for-profit company, NewWay Energy, as well as his nonprofit. "On April 12, I signed and sent theletter forward," along with about 4,500 similar letters he signed thatmonth, Sestak said. "In that, I made an error: that I failed to put twoand two together." Devitt issued a statement saying he was up-front withSestak’s staff when he made the request. "I am an inventor, writer,entrepreneur, and employer of people who actually make things," Devittsaid. "I believe that the U.S. government has unwisely spent its funds onthe purchase of foreign wind turbines that have not been placed in zones thatwould be the most effective at generating energy. My efforts have been topromote what I believe is a better plan for wind energy."

Who Said Chinais Going Green? Remember that 75 Mile Traffic Jam in China Last Week, Turns out10,000 of Those Trucks Were Carrying Coal (!?!). WashingtonExaminer (9.3) reports, "Did you hear about that epic 75-mile longtraffic jam they had in China earlier this week? Yes, you read that right, itwas a traffic jam that stretched for 75 miles. Here in the nation’s capital,people are amazed when I-95 heading south of town or the Beltway around thecity develop jams that go for 10 miles. But incredible as a 75-mile traffic jamis in and of itself, there was something else of importance worth noting in theChinese traffic choker – it was mainly caused by trucks hauling coal. Accordingto China Daily, "more than 10,000 trucks mainly carrying coal are stuck ina 120 km (75 mile) traffic jam in the north Chinese region of Inner Mongolia,in the latest dramatic snarl-up on the country’s roads." Imagine that,10,000 trucks hauling coal. There is a reason for that, however. China’smassive manufacturing economy runs on coal, a fact that somehow gets lost inPresident Obama’s frequent exhortations to Americans that we must go greenbecause China allegedly is doing it faster than we are."

Fearthe Feld: Obama Request for Courts to Toss Out Challenge to Its Always Illegal,and Now Increasingly Unpopular, Offshore Ban Denied by Judge Feldman. WallStreet Journal (9/1) reports, "The federal judge who struck down the Obamaadministration’s initial six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling onWednesday dealt the government another blow. U.S. District Court Judge MartinFeldman denied the government’s request to throw out a suit challenging thedrilling halt that had been filed by offshore oil service companies. JusticeDepartment lawyers had argued the lawsuit was moot because the InteriorDepartment imposed a new, temporary drilling ban on July 12, replacing a May 28order that Judge Feldman had struck down in June. But Judge Feldman ruled thatInterior Secretary Ken Salazar’s second moratorium order "is substantiallythe same as the first one" and "applies to the exact same rigs, tothe exact same deepwater drilling, for the exact same time period," thejudge said in his ruling. Judge Feldman also noted that in crafting the secondmoratorium, Salazar appeared to have relied heavily on documents and data thathe had at the time of the first moratorium order.  "Nearly every statement in the July 12 decisionmemorandum is anticipated by documents in the May 28 record, or by documentsthat were otherwise available to the Secretary before May 28," the judgesaid.

Rallyfor Jobs Event in Houston Turns Out Lots of Very Loud Folks In Support ofResponsible Offshore Development – Think Anyone in DC Was Listening? HoustonChronicle (9/1) reports, "The emcee for the event was Minerva Perez, theco-host of Latina Voices on PBS. The lead-off speakers included Sherman LewisIII, the owner of a local chain of gas stations who is African American;Carroll G. Robinson, head of the Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce; andBrandy Jones, founder of the social networking website Energy People Connect.Lewis got the biggest cheer when he talked about killing any cap-and-trade billthat tries to put a price on carbon emissions.  Jones lamented the volatility of the energy job market thatmakes "a geologist in their mid-30s … more scarce than a unicorn."The keynote, however, goes to former Shell USA CEO John Hofmeister. His talk,which started around 12:15 p.m. was being broadcast to rallies in CorpusChristi and Port Arthur. "Mr. President, Democrat to Democrat, I’m givingyou some straight talk," Hofmeister boomed. "When you flew to FortBliss, where’d that jet fuel come from? The Gulf of Mexico. When you haverecord snow fall in Washington, D.C. like you did in the winter of 2010, wheredid the natural gas come to keep people warm? The Gulf of Mexico. So why are weshutting down the Gulf of Mexico? You’ve cut your nose of to spite your face,Mr. President."

YouKnow the NYT Talking Point: Offshore Ban Hasn’t Resulted in Exodus of Rigs;Time to Update It: 1 More Left Last Week, and Another Is Set to Leave NextWeek. Reuters(9/1) reports, "Transocean Ltd has moved one of its deepwater rigs out of theGulf of Mexico, as the Obama administration’s deepwater drilling moratoriumhampers U.S. offshore oil and gas operations. Transocean’s Marianas rig is itsfirst to move from the Gulf since the suspension began and departed last week,bound for Nigeria, a company spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. The rig, undercontract with Italy’s ENI, was set to drill the Triton field. Oil companies andGulf state lawmakers have warned that the Interior Department’s halt onexploratory deepwater drilling will push idled rigs to foreign waters and costthe region thousands of jobs. The department imposed the six-month ban after anexplosion sank Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig, ruptured an undersea welland spilled 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. Transocean, the world’slargest drilling rig contractor, had more than a dozen deepwater rigs operatingin the Gulf when the drilling ban was put in place.

UseIt or Lose It, Anyone? Dilettante Solar "Developers" Snatch Up Prime Solar RealEstate in the Desert, But Refuse to Do Anything with It – Turns Out Solar’sExpensive! AssociatedPress (9/1) reports, "Nowhere is this more evident than in Nevada, where aGoldman Sachs & Co. subsidiary with no solar background has claims with theBLM on nearly half the land for which applications have been filed, but no firmplan for any of the sites. The Obama administration says it is expediting themost promising projects, with some approvals expected as soon as September."Clearly we spent a lot of time and effort on oil and gas, but thosepriorities have changed," Ray Brady, BLM’s head of energy policy inWashington, told the AP. BLM’s solar leasing system ended up allowingdevelopers to lay claim to prime sites – many located in the deserts that spanCalifornia, Nevada and Arizona. All developers had to do was fill out anapplication, pay a fee and file development plans. But many were so vague thatit was difficult for BLM to separate the serious projects from the speculativeones. In the Southern California desert near Palm Springs, for example, SanDiego-based LightSource Renewables filed an application in August 2008 for2,500 acres, BLM records show. The small, two-person development firm knewenough to recognize the land’s worth – it was close to transmission lines – buthad no previous experience with such projects. Co-founder Paul Whitworth saidit is now focusing on getting private land, and is not pursuing plans for itsBLM site. The agency, however, still considers the application active, meaningother interested firms cannot access it.

We’reNot Saying All Enviros Are as Nuts as the Guy Who Stormed Discovery Channel HQwith a Gun Yesterday Demanding Action on Climate – But They Read the SameBooks. WashingtonPost (9/1) reports, "Animals and bugs were good, Lee wrote. But war wasbad, along with global warming, pollution and international trade. As forcivilization?  The environmentalmilitant who was killed Wednesday at the end of a tense hostage standoff atDiscovery Communications headquarters in downtown Silver Spring, termed it"filth." Lee, who once listed a Silver Spring homeless center as hisaddress but who had inherited property in Hawaii that he sold for $90,000, heldextreme views about the environment. According to writings on the Internet, hebelieved that humanity had polluted the planet and that human reproduction wasthe worst pollutant. "Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutivecreatures around and are wrecking what’s left of the planet with their falsemorals and breeding culture," he wrote in an 11-point Internet communiquethat authorities said was similar to demands he made Wednesday. "Savingthe Planet means . . . decreasing the Human population. That means stopping thehuman race from breeding any more disgusting human babies!" "Theplanet does not need humans." What a coincidence: The WoodrowWilson Center in DC is holding a briefing today on "scarcity and populationcontrol."

ChetEdwards Generally a Guy Who Understands Difference Between Good, Bad andIrrelevant on Energy – Which Makes His Full-Throated Support for DOE Bizarre. DallasMorning News (9/1) reports, "Rep. Chet Edwards  dinged Republican challenger Bill Flores today forsuggesting earlier this year that the Department of Energy be eliminated."Maybe Mr. Flores doesn’t understand what the Department of Energy does,but that is a very dangerous misunderstanding," said Edwards, D-Waco, in acall with reporters. "This proposal would have serious consequences, bothhere in Texas and across our nation." The criticism derives from commentsthat Flores made at a radio candidates’ forum in March, where he suggestedcutting funds for the department. Edwards said the proposal would negativelyimpact research projects at Texas A&M and jobs for the expansion of theComanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant. The Department of Energy also plays animportant role in protecting against nuclear terrorism and working for energyindependence, he said. " The Flores campaign brushed aside the criticismas a "desperate attack." "Since the Energy Department wascreated in 1977 to end our dependence on foreign oil, it has failed to meet itsprimary objective even though it costs taxpayers about $30 billion eachyear," he added.

Facebook,Google, YouTube – You Know What They All Have in Common? They Use Electrons,and Those Come from Reliable Coal – Enviros Hate That. UKGuardian (9/1) reports, "Facebook is coming under pressure from its usersto switch to renewable energy. In one of the web’s fastest-growingenvironmental campaigns, Greenpeace international says at least 500,000 peoplehave now protested at the organisation’s intention to run its giant new datacentre mainly on electricity produced by burning coal power. Facebook will notsay how much electricity it uses to stream video, store information and connectits 500m users but industry estimates suggest that at their present rate ofgrowth all the data centres and telecommunication networks in the world willconsume about 1,963bn kilowatt hours of electricity by 2020. That is more thantriple their current consumption and more electricity than is used by France,Germany, Canada and Brazil combined. The company has said it will source itselectricity from Pacific Power. It uses coal power for 67% of its electricity,and produces less than 12% of its electricity from renewable sources. Thecompany has said it plans to generate more electricity from renewables infuture but has given no detailed information.