News

Deepwater-Gate: Salazar Forcedto Apologize for Misleading the Public on Whether Deepwater Moratorium  Was Supported by Panel of Experts,Engineers. FOXNews (6/11) reports, "The seven experts who advised President Obama on howto deal with offshore drilling safety after the Deepwater Horizon explosion areaccusing his administration of misrepresenting their views to make it appearthat they supported a six-month drilling moratorium — something they actuallyoppose. The experts, recommended by the National Academy of Engineering, sayInterior Secretary Ken Salazar modified their report last month, after theysigned it, to include two paragraphs calling for the moratorium on existingdrilling and new permits. Salazar’s report to Obama said a panel of sevenexperts "peer reviewed" his recommendations, which included asix-month moratorium on permits for new wells being drilled using floating rigsand an immediate halt to drilling operations. "None of us actuallyreviewed the memorandum as it is in the report," oil expert Ken Arnoldtold Fox News. "What was in the report at the time it was reviewed wasquite a bit different in its impact to what there is now. So we wanted todistance ourselves from that recommendation." Salazar apologized to thoseexperts Thursday.

Cathy Zoi Strikes Again: $126Million of Your Money Given to Florida by Federal Government to Spur Green Jobs- Guess How Many Were Created? NOT ONE. NYTimes (6/10) reports, "Is it possible to botch stimulus spending onrenewable energy projects? Florida and the federal Department of Energy havefound a way, according to the Energy Department’s inspector general. TheAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorized $3.1 billion in grants forthe state energy programs, and the Energy Department allocated $126 million forFlorida, a vast increase over the average of the previous few years, which was$1.4 million. In a report released on Thursday, the inspector general said thatFlorida had given $8.3 million in rebates "related to solar energy projectsthat had been completed prior to the passage of the Recovery Act." Florida hadhad its own rebate program, which ran out of money in early 2008, and it had abacklog of people waiting to collect. But the work had already been completed,so no jobs were created by Florida’s use of the money in this fashion. Stillthe Energy Department approved the expenditure. At least that money was spentquickly. The state had set itself a deadline of pinpointing where all of themoney would be spent by the beginning of this year, the audit said, but missedits deadline, partly because it chose projects that turned out not to beeligible.

A Full Year After Dept. of LaborAdmitted It Had No Idea What a Green Job Even Was, Comments in Federal RegisterConfirm THEY STILL DON’T. ByronYork writes (6/11) in the WashingtonExaminer, "Buried deep inside a federal newsletter on March 16 wassomething called a "notice of solicitation of comments" from the Bureauof Labor Statistics at the Department of Labor. "BLS is responsible fordeveloping and implementing the collection of new data on green jobs,"said the note in the Federal Register. But the notice said there is "nowidely accepted standard definition of ‘green jobs.’" To help find thatdefinition, the Labor Department asked that readers send in suggestions. Thenotice came only after the department scoured studies from government,academia, and business in search of a definition. "The common thread throughthe studies and discussions is that green jobs are jobs related to preservingor restoring the environment," the notice said. Duh! Beyond that, aprecise definition has eluded Labor Department officials. On Capitol Hill, astaffer for Sen. Charles Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate FinanceCommittee, was poring through the Federal Register and spotted the note. Thenhe went to the Department of Labor Web site, where he found a number ofannouncements like these: ** U.S. Department of Labor Announces $100 Million inGreen Jobs Training through Recovery Act The Labor Department is shoving moneyout the door for "green jobs," yet at the same time is admitting itdoesn’t know what a "green job" is.

The Uniter: Communities Alongthe Gulf Coast Come Together to Support Families Who Lost Loved Ones, and ToPush Obama to Lift Offshore Ban. USAToday (6/11) reports, "The area’s entire economy is struggling in the wakeof the Gulf oil spill, and the trickle-down effect within the local economy hascost Merange’s T-shirt business $5,000 since the spill started. But the oilindustry still has her support, she says. "My husband works in oil.Everybody’s husband works in oil," says Merange, 38. "It’s thelifeblood of this town … (and) we’ve got to support it." The Gulfcommunities hit hardest by the spill are also the ones leading the charge forthe Obama administration to lift its six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling.President Obama says the ban is necessary for safety reasons until aninvestigation can be conducted into the USA’s worst-ever oil spill. Yet localofficials, including most Gulf state governors, say the ban is unnecessary andis magnifying the devastating economic effect of the Deepwater Horizondisaster. Charlotte Randolph, president of Louisiana’s Lafourche Parish, saidshe pleaded with Obama to reverse the moratorium when he visited the state lastweek. She told the state Legislature on Wednesday that Edison Chouest Offshore,which operates offshore equipment, could lay off 1,000 workers soon. MichelClaudet, president of nearby Terrebonne Parish, said that 60% of jobs in hisparish are related to the oil and gas industry.

Widows of Men Who Were Killed inthe Gulf Come Face-to-Face with President Obama, Implore Him to Lift theOffshore Ban – Reports Say He Politely, Cerebrally  Declined. FOXNews (6/10) reports, "Family members of the 11 victims killed in theDeepwater Horizon Oil Rig disaster came to the nation’s capitol Thursday tomeet with the president and lawmakers to make sure another catastrophe likethis one never happens again, but another concern for them was saving theirlivelihoods. One widow of the victims thought that President Obama wasreceptive to raising the moratorium on offshore drilling. "He (Obama)understood where we were coming from, and I believe that the drilling willcommence one day," said Courtney Kemp, wife of Roy Wyatt Kemp, said at apress conference on Capitol Hill. In the president’s conversations with thefamilies Thursday, according to the families, Obama defended his decision tohalt drilling, saying he wanted time to put more safety measures in place tomake sure something like the Deepwater Horizon explosion doesn’t happen again."Our loved ones were not lost for nothing. They were doing their job, andtheir job was to keep the flow of oil going for this country, so everyone inthis room and everyone watching this could go to their corner store and filltheir gas tank up. That was their job and they are very good at it, they arevery good at it," said Anderson through his tears.

In Aftermath of MurkowskiResolution Vote, Some Good News for Affordable Energy Proponents: All theSquishy Rs Voted the Right Way for Once. E&E News(6/11, subs. req’d) reports, "Scott Segal, an industry attorney at Bracewell& Giuliani, said the fact that the three moderate Republicans voted for theMurkowski measure signals that they won’t blindly support climate policies."What I think it shows is that any environmentalist who believes that SenatorsBrown, Snowe and Collins are going to vote for legislation merely because theenvironmental community says that it’s politically expedient are wrong,"Segal said. Clean Air Watch President Frank O’Donnell said the Republicans’vote on the climate bill is not necessarily a signal that they would oppose aclimate bill. "It’s going to depend on the specifics of thelegislation," he said. "Of those three, the only one that’s steppedout on this issue in a positive way is Collins." Kerry said he has beenordered to work with Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Energy andNatural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) over the coming weeks"to try to see what we can help do to work through some of the issuespeople have." Advocates face an uphill climb in pulling together thevotes.

Smart Senate Dems Take NoComfort in Win on Murkowski Vote – They Understand Well that the Job of Passinga Carbon Criminalization Bill Just Got Harder. Politico (6/10)reports, "Senate Democrats on Thursday stopped an attempt by Republicans torestrict the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbonemissions, but during a leadership meeting could not agree on how to proceedwith a comprehensive energy bill. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that no finaldecisions were made in the meeting. Reid said in a statement that there are "avariety of opinions within our caucus" and that he is committed to passing abill this year. "He wants to get something that will get 60 votes. I don’tthink that’s real easy," Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said after themeeting. Rockefeller – a coal-state senator who embodies the challenge Reidfaces in striking a balance on energy – noted that most of the 11 senators inthe strategy session thought there would not be enough votes for the billintroduced recently by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).Rockefeller said many senators in the closed meeting expressed "real worryabout cap and trade" – a provision in the bill that sets up a system ofemission trades opposed by many elements of the energy industry.

Shale Gas Exploration in AmericaSingle-Handedly Reshaping the Geopolitics of the Entire World – Just Ask Putinand Ahmadinejad. George Wittmanwrites (6/11) for the AmericanSpectator, "Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has had to rethink itsentire future operational development and export revenue plan. It is not aloneamong the major gas suppliers such as Qatar and Algeria. (Iran is second onlyto Qatar in proven gas reserves, but it is not one of the top suppliers.) TheUnited States has returned as one of the world’s major gas producers throughthe unlocking of the technological mysteries of shale rock gasexploitation.  The key to thegrowth of natural gas availability has been the development of horizontaldrilling. This system allows deep vertical drilling literally to turn horizontallyto penetrate the layers of shale. A mixture is injected of water, chemicals,and small amounts of fine sand, fracturing ("fracking") the gas-ladenshale rock deposits. This action releases the gas that then pools and isrecovered.  In recent years theUnited States has ceased being a net gas importer and is now on the brink ofself-sufficiency, with the expectation of being export capable in ten years.Internationally the impact of domestic gas development through shaleexploitation has created the potential of serious alteration of strategiccircumstance.

Sensing an Opportunity, DeGetteand Markey Demand Companies Take Time from Clean-Up to Furnish Them withDetailed Lists of Materials Used in Response Effort. E&ENews/NY Times (6/11) reports, "House Democrats who have led the charge forgreater regulation of a natural gas production technique are taking theirchemical-disclosure rhetoric to the Gulf of Mexico. Markey called on BP to"release immediately the chemicals included in that drilling mud so therecan be complete, immediate, scientific analysis of what those chemicals are andwhat harm they are causing not only to ocean animals and fauna, but also humanbeings." He also promised to help pinpoint more details about thedispersants BP has used both on the surface and below the surface of the Gulfto break apart the slick. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), the driving forcebehind an effort to require drillers to disclose the ingredients of theirfracturing fluids, also expressed concern about dispersant use in a separateHouse Natural Resources subcommittee hearing. Industry experts say the muds BPused in the top kill attempt were safe. Bill Eustes, a petroleum engineeringprofessor at the Colorado School of Mines, said they were "environmentallybenign."

(Deep-) Watergate: Experts Askedto Review/Inform Salazar’s Offshore Report Say Deepwater Moratorium Rec WasAdded After the Fact – And They Oppose It. WallStreet Journal (6/10) editorializes, "In the wake of the oil spill,President Obama asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to produce a report on newdrilling safety recommendations. Then on May 27 Mr. Obama announced a six-monthdeep water drilling ban, justifying it on the basis of Mr. Salazar’s report, atop recommendation of which was the moratorium. To lend an air of technical authority,the report noted: "The recommendations contained in this report have beenpeer-reviewed by seven experts identified by the National Academy ofEngineering."  That would befalse, sir. In a scathing statement this week, the seven experts explained thatthe report draft they had reviewed did not include a six-month drillingmoratorium. That was added only after they signed off. "The Secretaryshould be free to recommend whatever he thinks is correct, but he should not befree to use our names to justify his political decisions," wrote the sevenin a letter to Gulf Coast politicians. One of the seven, University ofCalifornia at Berkeley engineering professor Bob Bea, further explained in anemail cited in the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "Moratorium was not apart" of the "report we consulted-advised-reviewed. Click here to read the cover letter, and here to get the meat.

You Know It’s Bad When: Even aProfessor from Cal-Berkeley is Among the Those Chiding the White House for Letting"Emotions" Get in the Way of "Facts."NewOrleans Times-Picayune (6/9) reports, "One of the panelists who signed theletter, University of California at Berkeley engineering professor Bob Bea,said in an e-mail message that a moratorium should be reserved for"unconventional, very hazardous operations" and shouldn’t apply tothe "majority of conventional offshore operations, (which) meetfundamental requirements for acceptable risks."  "Moratorium was not a part of the … report weconsulted-advised-reviewed," Bea wrote. "Word from DOI (InteriorDepartment) was it was a W(hite) H(ouse) request." The National Academy ofEngineering provided seven reviewers for Salazar’s safety report, and the academy’sKen Arnold, an oil and gas industry consultant, wrote a scathing cover letterTuesday that concludes: "The Secretary should be free to recommendwhatever he thinks is correct, but he should not be free to use our names tojustify his political decisions." "We didn’t mean to imply that theyalso agreed with the moratorium on deepwater drilling," the spokeswoman,Kendra Barkoff, said.

Louisiana Reps. Nearly Jump DownOff the Dais Upon Hearing of How the Moratorium Sausage Was Made As Part ofDeepwater-Gate. WallStreet Journal (6/9) reports, "The eight experts – all longtime petroleumengineers, some affiliated with major universities – are listed in a reportpublished by the Interior Department last month as having "peer reviewed"Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s recommendations on improving the safety ofdrilling on the outer continental shelf in the wake of the April 20 oil rigexplosion in the Gulf of Mexico. A Salazar spokeswoman acknowledged the experts"were not asked to review or comment on the proposed moratorium and that theypeer-reviewed the report on a technical basis." She added the moratorium wasbased on "the need for a comprehensive review of safety in deepwater operationsin light of the BP oil spill." Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) seized onthe engineers’ statement, calling it "further proof that [Obama] administrationpolicy is guided by emotion and politics, not facts." "Thousands of Louisianansare going to be out of work because the president wanted a get-tough headline,"he said.

King Kenneth Forced to ‘Fess Upin Wake of Deepwater-Gate: "It Was My Decision and the President’s Decision." E&E News (6/9,subs. req’d) reports, "We understand the need to undertake the limitedmoratorium and actions described in the draft report to assure the public thatsomething tangible is being done," the dissenting panelists wrote. "Ablanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce riskfurther and it will have a lasting impact on the nation’s economy which may begreater than that of the spill." Landrieu criticized Salazar for the moveat a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today. "Thistemporary pause, if it lasts very much longer than a few months — not six,just a few months — it could potentially wreak economic havoc on this regionthat exceeds the havoc wreaked by the spill itself," Landrieu said.Landrieu said the moratorium is halting production on 33 deepwater rigs, whichhave 100 to 200 workers each, and also will affect four or five jobs thatdirectly support every one of those positions. Salazar said he appreciated andaccepted the recommendations from the experts but added, "It was not theirdecision on the moratorium, it was my decision and the president’sdecision."

Meanwhile, Over on the ChampionsTour, Senate Expected to Begin Debate on Murkowski Resolution at 9:30 AM; Out-of-CycleDems Starting to Talk Tough. E&E News (6/10,subs. req’d) reports, "Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.),co-sponsors of a separate effort to limit EPA’s regulatory authority, said theywould vote against the Alaska Republican’s resolution. Sen. Sherrod Brown(D-Ohio) and Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan alsosaid they would oppose the measure. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said earlier thisweek that he would vote "no."Conrad said he does not think that EPA’sscientific endangerment finding "should be lightly overturned."Headded that the measure "has no prospect of succeeding" because it isunlikely the House will consider it and because it faces an Obama veto.Moderate Democratic Sens. James Webb of Virginia, Byron Dorgan of North Dakotaand Mark Begich of Alaska all said they are likely to vote against theresolution today. Debate on the measure is expected to kick off today at 9:30a.m. The Senate will then debate on a motion to proceed for six hours. If themotion passes, the chamber will debate the resolution for another hour prior tothe final vote. No filibusters or amendments are allowed.

Rebel Yell: Fmr. Student BodyPresident of Ole Miss All Grown Up – And More Than Willing to School Menendezand Crew on Patent Illegality of Their Offshore Liability Bill. Platts(6/8) reports, "The NTL also states that the causes of the explosion on theDeepwater Horizon rig are still under investigation. "So, if that is thecase, what additional safety or environmental protection equipment isnecessary?" Coleman asked. "Where is the list of such necessaryequipment? Why is it necessary to require drilling to stop for six months towait on a report from a non-technical commission that is not expert in safetyand environmental equipment?" He also said it is "highly questionable," that a blanketsix-month moratorium is necessary because, as the NTL put it, "undercurrent conditions deepwater drilling poses an unacceptable threat of seriousharm or damage." "What current conditions are referenced here thatcauses deepwater drilling to pose an unacceptable threat?" he asked."What is an unacceptable threat? Is the fact that many thousands ofdeepwater wells have been drilled before having a sea-floor blowout anunacceptable threat?  "I donot believe that a court of competent jurisdiction would agree with theadministration’s judgment on those questions," Coleman said.

IEA Warns that Lost Output Owingto Obama’s Hasty Decision in Deepwater Gulf Could Cost American Consumers300,000 Barrels of Domestic Oil a Day.WallStreet Journal (6/10) reports, "The International Energy Agency on Thursdayraised its 2010 world oil-demand forecast but warned that up to 300,000 barrelsa day of future U.S. output may be at risk if a drilling moratorium isextended.  In its monthlyoil-market report, the Paris-based agency increased its forecast for global oildemand by 60,000 barrels a day to 86.4 million barrels a day in 2010.  The raised outlook contrasts withWednesday’s cut in Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’s forecast byabout 10,000 barrels a day. OPEC kept its demand view substantially lower thanthe IEA, at 85.37 million barrels a day. The IEA is generally among the moreoptimistic about oil demand this year compared with other industry forecasters.It said that "if North America’s strong preliminary estimates areconfirmed," oil demand in the Organization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment "could briefly buck the decline observed in the previous fouryears."

Richest Man in the World Says USGovernment Should Spent Three Times More In Taxpayer Money to Fund EnergyResearch He Deems Worthwhile. NYTimes (6/9) reports, "The United States is badly lagging in basic researchon new forms of energy, deepening the nation’s dependence on dirty fuels andcrippling its international competitiveness, a diverse group of businessexecutives warn in a study to be released Thursday.  The group, which includes Bill Gates, the co-founder ofMicrosoft; Jeffrey R. Immelt, chief executive of General Electric; and JohnDoerr, a top venture capitalist, urges the government to more than triplespending on energy research and development, to $16 billion a year. And itrecommends creation of a national energy board to guide investment decisionstoward radical advances in energy technology.  Mr. Gates said in an interview that drastic changes wereneeded in the way the United States produced and consumed energy to assure itssecurity and to begin to address climate change. He endorsed the administration’sgoal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, but said thatwas not possible with today’s technology or politics.

Ashley Judd Loves Her SomeKentucky Basketball, Loves Being Seen at Rupp Arena – Just Hates EverythingAbout the State’s Coal-Based Economy.TheHill (6/9) reports, "Actress Ashley Judd said the federal government issupporting "the rape of Appalachia" because it allows mountaintop removalmining.  Judd, in a speech at theNational Press Club Wednesday, criticized the controversial practice.  Mountaintop removal mining (MTR) is aform of surface mining that involves the use of explosives on the summit orsummit ridge of a mountain to expose underlying coal seams. It’s a common formof mining in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia. Judd, aKentucky native, called it "strip mining on steroids" and choked up as shetalked about its environmental damage in her home state. She called for an endto the practice and singled out other politicians for criticism and praise. Shewas critical of Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), saying "his policy stance about coalmining is destructive to the people of Appalachia." Judd has worked with theNatural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups to help endthe practice.

Rocky KOs Jackson: EternallyJunior Democratic Sen. from West Virginia Says He’ll Stand with HisConstituents and Vote For Murkowski Resolution. DowJones (6/8) reports, "Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) on Tuesday brokeranks with Democratic party leaders and indicated that he would support aneffort by Senate Republicans to overturn new rules to curb greenhouse-gasemissions. The defection on the Obama administration’s cornerstoneenvironmental policy represents a blow to the White House, which on Tuesdaythreatened to veto any measure to overturn the first-ever EnvironmentalProtection Agency greenhouse-gas rules. The measure, a "disapprovalresolution," is being pushed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) and isscheduled for a Senate vote on Thursday. "I have long maintained that theCongress-not the unelected EPA-must decide major economic and energypolicy," said Mr. Rockefeller, who represents a coal state that could behit hard by greenhouse-gas regulations. "EPA regulation will have anenormous impact on the economic security of West Virginia and our energyfuture."

 WH Starting to Sweat Bullets onThis EPA Resolution – Decides to Fire Off Fairly Outlandish Statement LinkingGulf Spill to Supporters of Murkowski.E&E News (6/8,subs. req’d) reports, "The White House today threatened to veto a Senate effortto block federal climate rules as Democrats continue to link Thursday’s vote tothe ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. "The measure would undo EPA’scarefully constructed approach to reducing pollution generated by the largestoil companies, oil refineries, and other large-scale polluters," thedocument adds. Murkowski and her supporters fired back. "There have been alot of statements of late about the intent of this legislation — somehow or otherthat this is now tied to Big Oil in view of what we’re seeing with the spill inthe Gulf," Murkowski said. "But ultimately, this resolution is aboutprotecting the economy and preventing agency overreach, it’s as simple asthat." "It was very clear there were not the votes in the Senate todo a cap-and-trade bill and that the whole process was going to die,"Bennett said. "Then we got the oil spill, and all of a sudden, somehowthere is some connection between the EPA and the oil spill."

Meanwhile, All the LCV, SierraClub Money in the World Couldn’t Help Greens Take Down Blanche Lincoln inArkansas. E&E News (6/9, subs.req’d) reports, "Lincoln captured 52 percent of the vote in a runoff electionagainst Democratic Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who attacked the incumbent from theleft and had the backing of national labor and environmental groups. The Leagueof Conservation Voters was one of those groups that went after Lincoln in theclosing days of the campaign, going on the air with an ad campaign that blastedLincoln for accepting large campaign contributions from oil companies andattempting to link her policy positions to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Otherliberal groups also charged that the incumbent was too closely linked tovarious corporate interests. Lincoln, however, made little effort to move toher left and instead built her campaign around a message that she was willingto buck Democratic leaders and was a strong advocate for Arkansas interests. Aspart of that message, Lincoln touted her opposition to cap-and-tradelegislation and that her chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee gaveher unique power to deliver for her home state. 

If You Happen to Be in AlbanyToday, Make Sure to Stop By and Lend Some Support to the 500 Folks Rallying forResponsible Natural Gas Development in New York. IthacaJournal (6/8) reports, "400 to 500 Southern Tier landowners are expected torally in Albany today, where they will ask legislators to stay out of the wayof DEC’s environmental review of hydraulic fracturing and halt allindustry-thwarting legislation that’s threatening to delay drilling evenlonger. The rally is being organized by the Joint Landowners Coalition, a groupof area landowners who have signed, or are hoping to sign, leases with naturalgas companies. At least 10 buses, each carrying up to 50 people, are expectedto head to the rally from Broome, Tioga, Chenango and Sullivan counties.Landowners will be joined by members of the pipefitters, laborers and teamstersunions who are interested in the jobs drilling could bring to the region.Although a blowout on a rig in Clearfield County, Pa., on Friday explosions ona Texas pipeline and a West Virginia drilling pad Monday, and another Texasexplosion on Tuesday have been cause for alarm, Fitzsimmons said human errorsmade on a few rigs out of thousands shouldn’t stand in the way of an industrythat has proven to be safe and could bring tens of thousands of jobs to theregion. "We just had a scaffolding accident at a construction site ….Are we going to stop building now?" Fitzsimmons said. "We can’t dothat. We have to see what these mistakes are, learn from them, and thenadjust." Clickhere to access a comprehensive rebuttal of the anti-natural gas propaganda filmGasLand. 

Most Senators May Have a LawDegree, But Only a Handful Appear to Understand the Legal Issues thatRetroactively Re-Writing Offshore Liability Laws Create. E&E News (6/9, subs.req’d) reports, "While Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has proposed raising thelimit to $10 billion and other Democrats have called for unlimited liability,Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) has suggested eliminating the cap for the DeepwaterHorizon spill but leaving it at $75 million for future accidents. "Theyare the responsible party," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). "Theyare liable for the damages up to the extent of their very financial existence,and they are not too big to fail." But Sessions, the Judiciary Committee’sranking member, said he is skeptical about the constitutionality of imposing anew liability limit on all offshore drilling leases. Doing so could expose thegovernment to $10 billion in breach-of-contract claims from leaseholders, plusany claims for lost profits, oil industry consultant Jack Coleman told thecommittee yesterday. He cited the Mobil v. U.S. case, in which the SupremeCourt ruled that the Interior Department breached its contracts with oilcompanies by restricting drilling off the coast of North Carolina. "Thelessees had a right to rely on the law as it existed at the time that the leasewas issued, and therefore, the lessees recovered all their expenses," saidColeman, a former attorney at the Interior Department. 

Lotta Grumbling About theThousands of Jobs Being Lost along the Gulf Coast Thanks to Obama Moratorium -But At Least One Company’s Trying to Do Something About It. Bloomberg(6/8) reports, "Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. sued the U.S. InteriorDepartment to lift the six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf ofMexico triggered by the deadly explosion of a drilling rig and subsequent oilspill. Hornbeck, whose supply boats serve almost all 33 drilling rigs that wereoperating in the deepwater gulf, said one customer has already said it willcancel a contract as a result of the moratorium. President Barack Obamaannounced the ban May 27, after receiving a report by government officials incharge of exploration on the nation’s outer continental shelf, or OCS. TheDeepwater Horizon oil rig, operated by BP Plc, exploded April 20 off ofLouisiana, killing 11 workers. Since then, oil has been gushing from the wellinto the Gulf of Mexico. Hornbeck, based in Covington, Louisiana, hasn’t beenimplicated in the explosion or spill. "There is nothing in the report thatsuggests OCS drilling is more dangerous today than it was on the dayimmediately preceding the tragic incident involving the Deepwater Horizon,"Carl Rosenblum, an attorney for the company said in a complaint filed in NewOrleans federal court. Hornbeck is seeking an injunction stopping themoratorium. 

In First Appearance Since theSplit, Al Gore Tells Audience in Philippines, Where More than 1/4 of People Don’tHave Electricity, that Cap-and-Raid is a "Moral" Issue. ManilaTimes (6/9) reports, "Climate change is much more than just anenvironmental or political concern, according to Al Gore, who called it a moralissue that threatens humanity unless drastic action is taken within a decade.Gore, former United States vice president and Nobel laureate for hisdocumentary "An Inconvenient Truth," was in the country on Tuesdayfor a one-time appearance. The audience of about 4,000 people includedPresident Gloria Arroyo, newly arrived US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. and othermembers of the diplomatic corps in Manila, Henry Sy Sr. and his family, whosecompany, SM Prime, organized the event. "Climate change is not only a naturalor a technology issue," he said. "It is indeed a single, reckless and immoralact if one fails to take his part in addressing this problem." Climate changewas a moral issue, "because the decisions made by the current generation willhave such a profound effect on all future generations." He even quoted from theBible, saying, "Love thy neighbor." Gore, who was once congressman of Tennesseein America’s so-called Bible Belt, quoted from the Good Book several times,even though he noted that he was not proselytizing.

FacingSpecter of 40,000 Residents Out of Work Because of His Decision, Obama Moves toRe-Open Shallow Offshore – Too Bad 70% of the Oil Comes from Deepwater.  Wall Street Journal (6/8) reports, "TheObama administration, facing rising anger on the Gulf Coast over the loss ofjobs and income from a drilling moratorium, said Monday that it would move torelease new safety requirements that would allow the reopening of offshoreexploration in shallow waters. Gulf Coast residents, political leaders andindustry officials said delays in releasing the new rules, along with theadministration’s six-month halt on deepwater drilling threatened thousands ofjobs. The moratorium on offshore drilling is shaping up to be one of the mostcontentious elements of Mr. Obama’s response to the April 20 explosion thatsank the rig and touched off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.Industry trade groups say that each deepwater rig employs 180 to 280 workers,with each of those jobs supporting another four industry workers, for a totalpotential loss of more than 40,000 jobs. The moratorium "will result incrippling job losses and significant economic impacts for the Gulfregion," the National Ocean Industries Association said in a letterMonday. "I fully support offshore drilling and I always will," saidNatalie Roshto, of Liberty, Miss., whose husband, Shane, was among 11 peoplekilled in the blast. Clickhere to see IER’s Dan Kish debate the merits (and reality) of offshoreenergy exploration on FOX News this past Sunday.

Here’sthe Other Problem with the Obama Moratorium: No One with the Government SeemsAll that Interested in Releasing Any Details on How It Works, Who It Covers.The Hill (6/7) reports, "Agroup representing offshore energy companies is pressing the new chief of theMinerals Management Service to clarify drilling rules and allow development toproceed. The letter from the National Ocean Industries Association to actingMMS chief Bob Abbey calls for issuing "guidance" to offshore oil-and-gasdrillers "as soon as possible" outlining new safety measures needed forcompanies to receive approval of drilling permits and exploration plans. "Suchguidance should be timely, measurable and achievable," states the letter fromRandall Luthi, the group’s president. The Obama administration has placed newlimits on drilling as it explores safeguards needed in the wake of the BP oilspill. Drilling in waters less than 500 feet deep is allowed with newsafeguards, but the extent to which new shallow-water wells may proceed – andhow quickly – has become a source of confusion. The letter notes that MMS hasrecently pulled back some shallow-water permits, and alleges this "sends asignal" that a ban is in place on both shallow-water and deepwater wells.

LovedOnes of Men Lost Onboard the Deepwater Horizon Educate Members of Congress onImportance of Responsible Offshore Exploration.Wall Street Journal (6/7) reports, "Thewidows of two Deepwater Horizon crew members voiced their support forcontinuing to drill offshore at a congressional hearing Monday even as theysaid they want more safety enforcement. "I fully support offshore drillingand I always will," said Natalie Roshto, of Liberty, Miss., whose husbandShane was killed in the blast that unleashed one of the worst environmentaldisasters the region has seen. Mrs. Roshto added that offshore drilling provides a valuable commodityto the nation. Shutting down drilling "wouldn’t do these men anyjustice," she said. President Barack Obama has ordered a six-monthmoratorium on deepwater drilling so that it can be studied. Courtney Kemp, ofJonesville, La., whose husband Ron Wyatt Kemp also died in the explosion,called for oil companies to suffer "harsh punishment" if they breaksafety laws, but asked Congress to recognize "how important offshoredrilling is."  She added thatdrilling is "a way for families to make a living." U.S. Rep. SteveScalise, a Louisiana Republican, said that the ban would create an economicdisaster for the region, and that "you don’t hold an entire industryaccountable for the sins of one."

WeKnew Begich Would Show His True Colors Eventually – But We Never Thought HeWould to Stab His Alaska Colleague in the Back on Endangerment. E&E News (6/8, subs. req’d) reports, "Sen. Mark Begich(D-Alaska) probably won’t support his fellow Alaskan, Republican Sen. LisaMurkowski, in her bid to hamstring U.S. EPA climate rules, he said yesterday.Begich said he is "strongly considering" voting against Murkowski’sresolution to block EPA from issuing climate regulations because the EPA threatkeeps pressure on the Senate to pass a climate bill. "We need acomprehensive energy plan and if this keeps the fire under these guys to getsomething major done, I’m all for it," Begich said. The Senate is slated tovote Thursday on Murkowski’s resolution, which would essentially veto EPA’sfinding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The"endangerment" finding gives EPA the authority to issue rules to curbemissions under the Clean Air Act. Murkowski and her Senate supporters want toblock EPA before the agency formally begins to regulate greenhouse gases fromcars and industrial facilities next January. "The danger if Murkowski wereto become law is that there isn’t the immediate incentive to put a price oncarbon," said Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).

Meanwhile,As One AK Senator Signals Support for EPA Carbon Police, Lisa Jackson JoinsMost Radical Enviro Groups in Smearing Other AK Senator as a Tool of Big Oil.E&E News (6/7, subs. req’d) reports, "The Obamaadministration’s top environmental official and advocacy groups are using theGulf of Mexico oil spill to boost opposition to a Republican-led effort toblock U.S. EPA climate rules. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson wrote in aHuffington Post op-ed today that in the wake of the spill, it is"surprising to learn" that the Senate will vote Thursday "onlegislation that will take us back to the same old failed policies and increaseAmerica’s oil dependence by billions of barrels." The Senate is slated tovote Thursday on a resolution from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that wouldundo EPA’s "endangerment" finding for greenhouse gases, a determinationthat paves the way for agency climate rules (E&E Daily, June 7)."Senator Lisa Murkowski, with strong support from big oil companies andtheir lobbyists, has proposed a resolution that would drastically weaken ournation’s historic effort to increase fuel savings, save consumers money and cutoil consumption from American cars and trucks," Jackson wrote.

Rememberthe Kerry-Lieberman Bill? The Senate Doesn’t Either – Moves to Shelve thatEffort in Favor of an "Energy"-Only Approach (Sans Actual Production) Before August.Politico (6/7) reports, "Thedemand for a totally new bill also puts an existing climate proposal introducedby Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in jeopardy, a signthat Democratic leaders are skeptical that Lieberman and Kerry have the votesfor their bill.  Sen. Chuck Schumer(D-N.Y.) said early Monday morning he believed the Kerry-Lieberman bill wouldbe offered as an amendment to an energy bill once it reaches the Senate floor,but Senate sources insist that no decisions have been made.  And Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the chairman ofthe Energy committee, is awaiting action on an energy bill he’s sponsored. Boththe Bingaman and Kerry-Lieberman proposals include provisions for off-shoredrilling, which will have to be re-evaluated in wake of the Gulf oil spill.Sen. Lindsey Graham-once a co-sponsor on the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill-lamentedMonday that the White House and congressional response to the oil spill crisisis taking the potential legislation further away from accomplishing its goalenergy independence. Reid has asked for his committee chairmen to submit theirproposals by July 4, and he’d like to have a vote before the August recess ifhe can find 60 votes.

ConfusedWhy AWEA’s Spending $1 Million a Quarter Lobbying on Grid Issues? Read ThisArticle; Understand the Lengths It Will Go to Ensure YOU Pay for Its Members’Transmission.E&E News (6/8, subs. req’d) reports, "Some of the largestutilities are battling renewable power companies, environmentalists andtransmission system developers on the issue. Their positions are miles — andpotentially billions of dollars — apart. Green groups want infrastructurecosts shared by essentially every electricity user who could access therenewable power. Utilities argue that only those customers that specificallyseek renewable power should foot the bill. Both sides have hired lobbyists withimportant political ties, launched websites detailing their positions and arelobbying lawmakers and their constituents. "You have to have a way to getthe power from where the resource is to generate it to where the demandis," said Karen Palmer, Darius Gaskins senior fellow at Resources for theFuture, who noted that wind farms often are in more remote areas. In addition,Palmer said, existing lines often lack capacity to carry more power. TheAmerican Wind Energy Association spent more than $1 million on influence effortsin the first quarter. Like the power companies, it lobbied on a number ofissues, but transmission upgrades were a top priority.

FormerIPCC Head Doesn’t See Pact on Carbon Criminalization over Next 10 Years – ButHe Does See Some Pretty Kick-Ass Destinations for Climate Conferences Coming Up. AFP(6/7) reports, "The world community may need another 10 years to agree oncarbon cuts deep enough to roll back global warming, the UN’s point man forclimate change warned on Monday. "I don’t see the process deliveringadequate mitigation targets in the next decade," Yvo de Boer, executivesecretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said in awebcast from Bonn. "Over the longer term, I think we will get this issueunder control. Having said that, I do believe that it’s a longer journey,"de Boer said. De Boer spoke on the sidelines of a 12-day round of negotiationsfor a post-2012 treaty to curb "greenhouse" gases blamed fordisrupting Earth’s climate system. The pact was supposed to have been sealed ata summit in Copenhagen last December, but the negotiations failed. De Boer,stepping down at the end of this month, said that Copenhagen had yielded someprogress. And developing countries also saw the need to "make a seriouscontribution" by reining in their own expected growth in carbon pollution,he added.

Sage Advice from John Stossel at IER Energy Forum: Want Folks to Support Energy Development in America? Remind Them That Access = Affordability. Oil & Gas Investor (6/4) reports, “Stossel says that explaining that more Louisiana Gulf Coast residents are employed by the energy industry than the fishing industry will fall upon unpiqued ears. Instead, he says, emphasize that U.S. energy production contributes to Americans’ access to cheap energy. Oil is produced from thousands of feet below Earth’s surface, and at times under thousands of feet of water too; brought to the surface and put into thousands of miles of pipe or into ships; refined into gasoline; transported to fueling stations in trucks; and the price is less than $3 a gallon, with some 70 cents of that going to the government.“It still costs less than the bottle of water they sell at the gas station,” Stossel notes. “Maybe we take these miracles for granted.” After purchasing goods for a month with a plastic card, a statement arrives that accounts for each purchase, to the penny, he notes. Yet, “the government can’t even count votes.”

Previously Content to Abort on Carbon Criminalization, Gulf Spill Has Some Lawmakers Thinking They Can Sneak It Through – See IER Debate CAP on That Below. Wall Street Journal (6/7) editorializes, “Democrats have also co-opted other should-be opponents, and not only in the oil industry. Corporate cap-and-tax enthusiasts include Duke Energy and most of the other utilities, as well as Honeywell, DuPont and other large corporations on the Business Roundtable. General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt captured this mentality best, as he so often does. "National policy—including an effective price on carbon and a strong, nationwide clean energy standard—is needed to drive increased investment, which in turn creates new technologies and jobs," he wrote in endorsing Kerry-Lieberman. Like the medical-industrial complex, these businesses will soon come to rue their concessions for a seat at the table and some momentary corporate welfare. But everyone else should understand the stakes. Democrats know this is their last opportunity to control another huge chunk of the economy. Click here to see IER’s Dan Kish debate CAP’s Danny Weiss this past weekend on the prospects for cap-and-raid (starts at 6:35).

Kish: “When Your First Response [to the Gulf Spill] is to Send in the Lawyers, You Have to Question What They’re Really After.” Audrey Hudson reports (6/7) in Human Events , “Atty. Gen. Eric Holder launched his inquiry into criminal charges against BP, but the ongoing spill is far from being under control and officials are still trying to determine what caused the catastrophe. “This is not the time to be focusing on a criminal investigation, and I have to believe that is part of the effort of the Obama Administration to look like they are doing something,” said Jack Coleman, a senior attorney and advisor at the Interior Department from 1989 through 2003 under both Presidents Bush and President Clinton. Dan Kish, senior vice president of policy at the Institute for Energy Research, a free-market think tank, said the administration seems more focused on headlines than action. “The President’s biggest problem is that he has decided this is a political issue and his response has been political and therefore not focused on what should happen, which is finding out what went wrong, correcting it, and getting back to the business of producing oil this country needs,” Kish said. “Honestly, when your first response is to send in the lawyers, you have to question what they are really after, is it the truth, or headlines?” Kish said.

Fourth-Largest City in U.S. (That’d Be Houston) Starting to Wake Up to the Reality that Significant Swaths of Its Economy Could Be Lost Thanks to WH Moratorium. Houston Chronicle (6/6) reports, “Oil and gas companies worry that future exploration and production in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, a business that has been the driving force behind the city’s vast energy economy for more than a decade, could be jeopardized by fallout from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. A six-month government ban on deep-water drilling already has caused disruptions, forcing oil and gas firms to idle equipment and thousands of workers and scurry to redeploy them elsewhere. But even if the ban ends in November as scheduled, and it may not, Houston could feel the effects of the interruption long after. In addition, uncertainty around the ban — and new rules that inevitably will follow — is making it difficult for oil companies to plan and budget for the future, and to reassure antsy investors.

No Jokes About RFK, Jr. – Okay? Dude Has a Responsible Job Now – Albeit with an Irresponsible Group Bent on Destroying Natural Gas Jobs Wherever They Exist. Scranton Times-Tribune (6/6) reports, “A natural gas industry group responded Friday to environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s visit to Dimock Twp. on Thursday, saying Mr. Kennedy and the group of environmentalists who traveled to the rural township received only a one-sided view of the gas development there. Members of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Riverkeeper and Catskills Mountainkeeper traveled to Dimock to speak with residents about disruptions to their lives and water caused by natural gas drilling. Chris Tucker, a spokesman for Energy In Depth, said the environmentalists from New York could not have received a "full appreciation of the process" during a one-day visit to the community and likely did not seek one. He called the Natural Resources Defense Council "an organization that has fought natural gas development everywhere under any means." "My sense is that none of the people in that room knew where Dimock was on a map two hours before they got there, " he said. "I’m glad they were able to parachute in for the day, but I wonder if they were able to talk to anyone whose jobs were created by the development of the natural gas."

Maybe We Shouldn’t Be Surprised that Nuns Are Protesting Natural Gas in PA; After All, They’ve Taken a Vow of Poverty – Why Shouldn’t Everyone Have to Take It Too? Philadelphia Inquirer (6/6) reports, “The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, a Roman Catholic order based in Delaware County, invested more than $2,000 of its retirement fund last year in Chesapeake Energy Corp., one of the nation’s largest natural gas operators. The nuns were not bullish on gas exploration. On the contrary. "As investors and concerned citizens, we believe that it is critical that we engage companies and hold them accountable for all aspects of their operations," said Sister Nora M. Nash, director of corporate responsibility for the activist order based in Aston. "There’s a tremendous amount of misinformation out there," said Rodney L. Waller, a senior vice president of Range Resources Corp., a Texas company targeted with a shareholder resolution sponsored by the New York State Common Retirement Fund. Unlike some companies that reacted defensively to the resolutions – Sister Nora said she received only a terse formal letter from Chesapeake – Waller said he telephoned the sponsors immediately. "We talk to shareholders all the time," said Waller, whose company is one of the biggest operators in Pennsylvania. "If your objective is to be better informed, we have no problem with that."

Greenpeace Says that 8.5 Million Jobs Could Be Created If We Produced 95% of World’s Electricity from Pinwheels, Sun Catchers – 8 Million in the Cave-Cleaning Service Sector. Economic Times (6/7) reports, “Climate pressure group Greenpeace said on Monday that switching to renewable energy sources could create 8.5 million jobs by 2030 if governments turn their backs on "dirty and dangerous" fossil fuels. "Investing in people, rather than dirty and dangerous fossil fuels not only boosts global economic development but stems catastrophic climate change," Greenpeace said in a new report unveiled in Berlin. Greenpeace said that the global market for renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power could be worth more than 600 billion dollars by 2030, a six-fold increase from now. The forecasts are based on a scenario of carbon dioxide emissions being cut by more than 80 per cent by 2050 from 1990 levels, and 95 per cent of the world’s electricity needs being produced by renewables compared with around 18 per cent at present. It "shows how to eliminate unpredictable fossil fuel costs, destructive mining and oil exploration and with it catastrophes such as the current BP Gulf oil spill" in the Gulf of Mexico, Teske said.

Time to Stand: Murkowski Resolution May Go Down in Flames This Week, Who Knows for Sure; But At Least We’ll Know Where These Clowns Stand. The Hill (6/6) reports, “The Senate this week will return to a pivotal, long-simmering debate over the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases. The debate will center on a Thursday vote on a disapproval resolution by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that would block the EPA from enforcing emission rules under the Clean Air Act. Murkowski objects to the EPA’s authority and believes that Congress should set such standards instead of the executive branch. Although the resolution is not expected to pass, Murkowski is bringing the resolution forward under the Congressional Review Act, which prevents any filibusters and only requires 51 votes for passage. Murkowski’s measure has 41 formal co-sponsors, including Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) told The Hill that Murkowski’s resolution is "a distraction."

Kubrick Would’ve BeenPerfect for This: EPA’s Lisa Jackson Asks Avatar Director James Cameronto Advise Her on How to Stop Leak in the Gulf – No Joke. Associated Press(6/2) reports, “Top kill" didn’t stop the Gulf oil spill. How aboutsomething "titanic"? Federal officials are hoping film director JamesCameron can help them come up with ideas on how to stop the disastrousoil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The "Avatar" and "Titanic" directorwas among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday withofficials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federalagencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak.The Canadian-born Cameron is considered an expert on underwater filmingand remote vehicle technologies. More than 20 scientists, engineers andtechnical experts attended the meeting, which also includedrepresentatives of the Energy Department, Coast Guard and NationalOceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Other organizationsrepresented at the gathering included the Woods Hole OceanographicInstitute; Oceanographic Institute at Harbor Branch, Florida AtlanticUniversity; University of California at Santa Barbara; Nuytco ResearchLimited; World Wildlife Fund; and the University of California atBerkeley.

Back-of-the-PhonebookLawyers from All over the Country Rush Down to Gulf Coast to FileLawsuits – Some Even Suing from Areas Where No Oil Can Be Found. Wall Street Journal(6/2) reports, “Just as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has surpassedthe scope of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, it appears the torrent ofrelated litigation has, too. Lawyers here are busy trying to increasethe size and scope of the lawsuits they have filed on behalf of peoplewho contend they were harmed in some way by the disaster spreadingalong the Gulf of Mexico coast. The opening of criminal and civilinvestigations by the government, announced Tuesday, will likely fuelefforts by plaintiffs’ attorneys. Hoping to reel in more clients,attorneys have snapped up domain names such as bigoilspills.comand put up billboards along highways saying "Oil spill hurt yourbusiness?" and advertising their services. Some attorneys have sentrepresentatives to Key West, Fla., to sign up clients even though oilhas yet to wash ashore there—and may never. Others are casting a widernet for defendants, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands,under whose flag the rig is registered. Last week they held a symposiumto trade tips on how to most effectively sue big oil companies, basedin part on their experience with Exxon after its Alaska spill. Aspokesman for BP declined to comment.

Remember When NRELTeamed Up with Big Wind to Attack Whistle-Blowing Professor from Spainon Green Jobs? Well, NREL’s Back – Shilling for Denise Bode Once Again.NY Times(6/2) reports, “Wind energy has plenty going for it: it is clean,unlimited in supply and the most economical source of renewable power.Its clearest drawback is unreliability: sometimes the wind just doesnot blow. But that intermittency – long considered a major shortcoming– may have little impact on the potential for wind to power much of theelectric grid in the western United States, according to a new study bythe Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab. The study,released in late May, found that the power grid for five western states– Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming – could operate onas much as 30 percent wind and 5 percent solar without the constructionof extensive new infrastructure. “If key changes can be made tostandard operating procedures, our research shows that large amounts ofwind and solar can be incorporated onto the grid without a lot ofbackup generation,” Dr. Debra Lew, project manager for the study, saidin a statement. The authors of the N.R.E.L. study tackled thissupposition head on and found it largely baseless. It concluded that inthe West, the broad distribution of wind turbines and solar generationwould essentially smooth out the supply of renewable power.

Enviros Incensed overCourt Ruling that Those Who Actually Make Things in This World CannotBe Sued Simply for Doing So — At Least Under “Public Nuisance”Statutes. Greenwire(6/1, subs. req’d) reports, “After an unusual about-face prompted by alate recusal, a federal appeals court has scrapped a ruling that saidthe nation’s largest producers of greenhouse gas emissions could besued for the damage caused by global warming. The Comer case is one ofseveral pioneering climate change cases based on claims of publicnuisance, a centuries-old mainstay of common law that allows people tosue their neighbors for nuisances such as foul smells, loud noises orovergrown trees. A three-judge panel ruled last year that theplaintiffs could proceed, but that ruling is now out of play unless theplaintiffs appeal to the Supreme Court. After reviewing briefs from theplaintiffs and defendants, the remaining eight judges ruled last Fridayafternoon that they lacked a quorum, meaning they could not review orreinstate the panel’s decision. "This court, lacking a quorum,certainly has no authority to disregard or to rewrite the establishedrules of this court," said Friday’s order, which was signed by five ofthe eight remaining judges. "There is no rule that gives this courtauthority to reinstate the panel opinion, which has been vacated."

NRDC Front GroupAnnounces $3 Million Ad Buy Touting “All of the Above” Approach toEnergy Security – “All” Except for Oil, Gas, Coal, Nuclear and Hydro. E&E News(6/1, subs. req’d) reports, “A “Republican” environmental organizationand a left-leaning think tank today joined forces to launch one of thebiggest advertising campaigns to date on behalf of the climate andenergy bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman(I-Conn.).The $3 million effort from Republicans for EnvironmentalProtection and the Truman National Security Project will target 16states — and key lawmakers — through a combination of televisionadvertising, online advertising, direct mail efforts and other voteroutreach activities. The groups will go on the air this week with theirfirst ad, which calls on Congress to stop fighting about the specificsof the energy bill and embrace an "all of the above" approach. The adthen lists divisive policy issues and closes: "Let’s do it all. We needclean, American power now." The ad appears to mesh the approaches usedby both parties, embracing both the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill andthe "all of the above" message that has been particularly popular withHouse Republicans.

Here’s a Question: IsNY Prepared to Shell Out Billions in “Takings” Compensation to LocalLandowners to Whom It Continues to Deny Property Rights? Mike Slezak writes (6/2) in the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin,“I am opposed to Bill S.7592/A.10490. This bill is a redundancy ofprevious studies performed by the Environmental Protection Agency thatconcluded hydraulic fracturing is safe and does not present a threat togroundwater sources. This bill originated in Queens and Suffolkcounties. Is there Marcellus to be drilled there? What really irks meand many other landowners is people trying to tell me what I can andcannot do with my land. If I want to cut down every tree on my propertyfor whatever reason, I can. And if I want to allow drilling for naturalgas on my land, I should be allowed. As a landowner, I own the mineralrights contained within my property’s boundaries, the same as thetrees. It seems that my mineral rights are being taken away from me.Most landowners have their own water wells, so don’t you think we havethought about the possible effects drilling may have? I know I have,and I say let’s drill.

Funny Thing AboutSolar Panels – They’ve Got Tons of Cadmium in ‘Em; Apparently That’sToxic, Which Is Putting Solar-Backers in Europe in a Real Tough Spot. Bloomberg(6/2) reports, “The solar-power industry may win exemption fromEuropean Union changes to rules governing the use of hazardoussubstances in electrical goods, offering a reprieve to panel makerssuch as First Solar Inc., lawmakers said. The rule changes, to be putto a parliamentary committee vote in Brussels today, propose giving theEU more scope to restrict substances such as cadmium in electricalgoods. Panels made by U.S.-based First Solar, the world’s largest makerof thin-film solar power modules, are based on cadmium tellurite. Mostlawmakers in parliament’s 64-seat environment group are now seeking acompromise, increasing the EU’s powers to restrict dangerous materialswhile excluding renewable energy products, according to German EUlawmaker Karl-Heinz Florenz. The European People’s Party, whichcontrols 23 votes, has the support of the Greens and a majority ofSocial Democrats for the move, he said. “In all probability, we’ll gainbacking for an exemption,” Florenz, a member of Chancellor AngelaMerkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said in a phone interview. Thecompromise would exempt cadmium tellurite used in any large, fixedrenewable energy facility, subject to a review in 2014, he said.

Envy with Green:Graham May Have Made the Right Political Choice in Backing Out of KGL,But Lindsey Makes It Clear His Heart Is Still Invested in CriminalizingCarbon. Greenwire(5/28, subs. req’d) reports, “A key Senate Republican voice on climatelegislation is floating yet another alternative way to price carbonemissions by focusing just on power plants. Sen. Lindsey Graham(R-S.C.) said yesterday that the electric utility industry is most inneed of a market signal for pricing greenhouse gases, while other majorindustries could be left out of a new U.S. carbon market, especially ifit means finding enough votes to pass a bill in the Senate. "We do needto price carbon to make nuclear power and wind and solar and somealternative technologies economically viable," Graham said. "On thetransportation side, maybe you can reduce emissions without a cap. Idon’t know. But you need to put a price on carbon in the powerproduction area at a minimum to jump-start these other technologies." "We thought this through 20 times, saying, ‘How can we do thisdifferently?’" Kerry said at a forum hosted by the Christian ScienceMonitor. “Every time you take one piece away, you make it moreexpensive for the other pieces to do it alone. And if you take certainpieces away, there’s no money to be able to help people transition andcushion for it."

Beautiful Disaster:Green Jobs Boondoggle in Spain Seen by Outsiders as Key Factor inNation’s 20% Unemployment Rate – Political Leadership Still in Denial. Associated Press(5/28) reports, “Fitch Ratings cut Spain’s credit rating Friday, sayingits government’s efforts to reduce debt would weigh down economic growth. The ratingsagency dealt a blow to state efforts to shore up confidence in itsfinances by cutting the country’s rating one notch from AAA to AA plus.Earlier Friday, the government defiantly ruled out calling earlyelections and instead promised more austerity, forecast lower economicgrowth and higher unemployment and acknowledged having almost noparliamentary support for spending cuts designed to combat Spain’sshare of the European debt crisis. "The people gave us their trust togovern for four years. That time is not up," Deputy Prime MinisterMaria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference after aCabinet meeting. Europe’s top job-creator only two years ago, Spain nowhas the region’s highest unemployment rate, at just over 20 percent,and is the slowest of the major economies to emerge from the globalrecession.

Justice Delayed:Effort to Use Endangered Species Act as a Means of Denying Millions ofCalifornians Access to Water Soundly (Finally) Rejected in FederalCourt. E&E News(5/28, subs. req’d) reports, “U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger lateyesterday delivered another win for farmers and water districts lookingto export more water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento Bay Delta, rulingthat federal agencies "completely abdicated" their responsibility toprotect economic interests in California alongside endangered deltasmelt. Wanger, ruling from the U.S. Eastern District of California inFresno, signaled his intention to provide San Joaquin Valley farmersand water districts relief from water pumping restrictions orderedunder the Endangered Species Act for the smelt. The decision mirrors asimilar ruling on salmon issued earlier this month that led to thelifting of pumping limits this week. "Judicial deference is not owed toarbitrary, capricious and scientifically unreasonable agency action," Wanger wrote. "FWS and Reclamation … must take the hard look underNEPA at the severe consequences visited upon [California’s agriculturalindustry] and the residents and communities impacted by the watersupply limitations."

EPA’s Jekyl-and-HydeApproach to Approving Use of Dispersants Expected to Be Called Out ThisWeek By Group of Independent Scientists – Who Know They’re Safe. Wall Street Journal(6/1) reports, “A federally convened group of scientists is set torecommend that BP PLC and the government continue spraying chemicalsinto the Gulf of Mexico to help prevent leaking oil from washingashore, even though the scientists have serious concerns about thepotential long-term damage to sea life. The group’s report, due thisweek, comes after BP’s latest efforts to plug the leaking Deepwater Horizon oil wellfailed. If further interim measures to cap the well don’t work, largeadditional amounts of the chemicals, known as "dispersants," could besprayed into the Gulf until relief wells can be completed and thegusher capped, which could take until late summer. Research shipssponsored by the Obama administration and universities have recentlyfound what scientists believe is evidence that clouds of tiny oildroplets are collecting deep underwater. Tests are under way todetermine whether the droplets are oil—and, if so, whether they werecaused by the dispersants. Scientists suspect those droplets could harmfish, birds and sea mammals in coming months and years.

Sec. SalazarTestifies Under Oath that MMS Director Left “On Her Own Terms, and OfHer Own Volition” – New Reporting Suggests He May Have Told Congress aLie. E&E News(5/28, subs. req’d) reports, “The now-ex MMS director was in her officeearly yesterday, preparing to testify before an congressional panelabout the agency’s role in handling BP’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, asshe had several times in recent weeks. Yesterday was different,according to sources. Someone from Secretary Salazar’s office calledand said the secretary did not want her to attend the House hearing.Following a harsh NYT profile that highlighted her low profile in thecrisis, that might have seemed like a bad omen. But Birnbaum, theformer veteran congressional staffer, was worried more about stiffing acommittee chairman than what this meant for her job. She called Rep.Jim Moran (D-Va.), chairman of the Interior Subcommittee, to tell himshe would not be appearing. Moran called Salazar, who then walked outof his sixth-floor hallway with Deputy Secretary David Hayes. They wentone floor down and four hallways over to Birnbaum’s office in 5400corridor of Main Interior and asked her to resign.

So What If Only About14 People Live in North Dakota? The Folks Who Regulate Energy Up ThereKnow What They’re Doing; Other States Should Take a Lesson. NorthCentralPa.composts (5/29) the latest dispatch from the Marcellus Shale Coalition:“Quick: What’s the first thing that comes to mind when the subject ofNorth Dakota comes up? Well, assuming it ever does, there’s that famousCoen brothers film of the mid-90s, its status as home and birthplace ofYankee-legend Roger Maris, and of course, the majesty and mystique ofthe American treasure known as Mt. Rushmore (oops, wrong state). Butthose notwithstanding, you know what else North Dakota is known forthese days? Energy. Lots and lots of energy. In fact, thanks to thestate’s prolific Bakken Shale formation, North Dakota surged pastOklahoma and Louisiana this year to become the nation’s fourth-biggestproducer of petroleum. So how did a state with a total populationroughly equivalent to Bucks County, PA pull this thing off? Well, forstarters, it helps to be situated above a shale formation thatgeologists believe holds more than four billion barrels of recoverableoil. But as folks in Pennsylvania have started to figure out, it takesmore than the right geology to convert American energy resources intojobs, revenue and opportunity for those who need them. It takes acommitment by policymakers 10,000-feet above the formation to put theright kind of legislative and regulatory framework in place.

Day in the Life of anIPCC Kleptocrat: Wake Up, Fly to Switzerland, Talk with OtherKleptocrats About All the Fun You’re Gonna Have in Cancun in December,Repeat. The Irish Times(6/1) reports, “A fresh round of UN climate change talks got under wayin Bonn yesterday in an effort to pick up the pieces after lastDecember’s summit in Copenhagen and pave the way for firmer action.“The Copenhagen meeting may have postponed an outcome for at least ayear, but it did not postpone the impacts of climate change,” said theUN’s top climate official, Yvo de Boer, who is stepping down on July1st to become “global adviser” to KPMG consultants. “The deadline toagree an effective international response to climate change atCopenhagen was set because governments, when launching negotiations inBali in 2007, recognised the scientific warning on climate for what itwas: a siren call to act now, or face the worst.” The two-week round oftalks in Bonn, with 182 governments represented, is aimed at settingthe agenda for “cop 16” – the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFramework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Mexican resortof Cancún in December.

Kerry-LiebermanLikened to Mr. Potato Head – Cosmetic Features Can Be Rearranged, Butthe Concept Remains Wholly Intact (“Risk” and “Operation” Come to MindToo). Wall Street Journal(5/18) editorializes, “Despite the most creative rhetoric this side ofObamaCare, voters have figured out that "cap and trade" involvesartificial carbon rationing and vast new energy taxes. So the main goalof John Kerry and Joe Lieberman has been attempting to disguise thesetruths in the climate bill they released to much fanfare last week. Thebill was nine months in gestation once it became clear that the versionthe House passed last summer—which one of five Democrats opposed—wasdoomed in the Senate. Yet no one should mistake Kerry-Lieberman for anew approach. Jim Lucier, an investment analyst at Capital AlphaPartners, calls it the Mr. Potato Head bill. The cosmetic features canbe rearranged, but it’s still a Mr. Potato Head. This is still cap andtax—except with new and larger subsidies, outright corporate bribes,and the rest of the political palm-greasing that Democrats hope canstill lead to a Rose Garden ceremony this year. The bill sets a 2020target for reducing CO2 emissions by 17% from 2005 levels, and 83% by2050, the same as the House. Of course, please don’t say this hasanything to do with global warming. "We don’t want to mix messageshere," Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said on Earth Day. "I’m allfor protecting the Earth, but this is about energy independence."

Scrantonicity: PA’sJunior Senator Finds Himself Eyebrow Deep in Complicated Stuff Again;This Time? Wants Senate Vote on His Ridiculous “Tailoring” Amendment. E&E News(5/18) reports, “Two Senate Democrats are considering an alternative toSenate efforts to stymie the Obama administration’s climate regulations. With two bills to block or limit U.S. EPA’sclimate rules pending, Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.)are discussing a measure that would seek to exempt small stationarysources from greenhouse gas regulations while allowing the agency toregulate larger emitters, according to a Senate aide familiar with theproposal. "I think it would be very helpful for folks who represent astate like mine as well as others to have an alternative available,"Casey said yesterday. Casey declined to say what such a measure couldentail. "I don’t want to characterize it, because a quickcharacterization would not do justice to what the nature of theamendment will be if we have to use it," he said. The proposal is "very similar" to EPA’s "tailoring" rule forgreenhouse gases, the aide said. EPA last week finalized a rule thatseeks to phase in permitting requirements beginning with the largeststationary sources.

“Kings of the World”:Federal Agency Charged with Overseeing Offshore Minerals Flatly Refusesto Comply with Request to Send Representative to Senate for Hearing. The Hill(5/17) reports, “The federal agency that regulates offshore oildrilling declined to send a witness to the Senate Homeland Security andGovernmental Affairs Committee’s hearing Monday on the federal responseto the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Committee Chairman JoeLieberman (I-Conn.) said. The committee had requested the appearance ofa top official from the Interior Department’s Minerals ManagementService. Lieberman’s panel is probing the adequacy of BP’s federallyapproved oil drilling and spill response plans. “I regret that the MMSleadership has chosen not to appear before our committee today becausethey really need to be asked the same questions I am going to askHomeland Security, the Coast Guard and BP,” Lieberman said Mondayafternoon as the hearing commenced. Lieberman opened the hearing withan attack on federal oversight of offshore drilling. He faulted MMS forapproving inadequate BP plans. “Did our government, through MMS,require an oil spill response plan adequate to the widest range ofpossible dangers, including the failure of a blowout preventer?,”Lieberman said, referring to a failure of device that is supposed tocut off damaged wells. “It sure appears that they did not.”

Fmr. Illinois Rep.Pops the Balloon of Complacency on LCFS – Just Because It’s Not inKerry-Lieberman Doesn’t Mean It Won’t Be on Your Doorstep By Christmas. Fmr. U.S. Rep. Thomas Corcoran (R-Ill.) writes (5/18) for the Daily Caller,“While they may not know it yet, the decision to leave the LCFS on thecutting room floor is a rare spot of good news for a broke and brokenAmerican public. After all, ever since the governor of Californiasigned an executive order in 2007 setting his state down the LCFS path,those of us who have seen this movie before began to brace for theinevitable national standard from Washington—part of theless-than-implicit pact we have with the world’s eighth largest economyto bail it out anytime it bites off a mandate too big for it to chew.But given a second glance at the legislative movement taking placethroughout the country, perhaps we’ve been duped. True, it’s unlikelythat an LCFS will be resurrected as part of the Kerry-Lieberman bill.But that doesn’t mean it’s prepared to stay in the grave forever. Rightnow, in more than 20 states across the country, efforts are under wayto copy the California model and paste it into statute—with or withoutthe consent of the legislature. And while you may think you’d be safeif you happen to live in one of the remaining 30 states, it’s time tothink again.

Group thatSpecializes in Telling Investors Not to Invest In Profitable EnergyProjects Affixes Its Target on Canada’s Oil Sands; So We Just Bought 10More Shares This AM. ClimateWire(5/18, subs. req’d) reports, “A supporter of Albertan oil development,Michael Whatley of the Consumer Energy Alliance, disputed thesuggestion that demand from the United States would drop for oil sandsfuels amid climate regulations in the United States. Even if oil pricessurge above $120 a barrel, there is not an immediate replacement forthe Canadian fuel, he said. "If we take a major part of our consumptionoff the table, where are we going to get it from?" he said. "It’s notgoing to come from Mexico." Canada currently is the United States’largest importer of crude oil. The Ceres report provides a strongerargument against the adoption of low-carbon fuel standards than it doesagainst cutting oil sands development, Whatley said. Wind and solarpower fueling the electric grid for widespread use of alternativevehicles could take decades, he said. Companies already have reducedthe carbon footprint per barrel of tar sands oil by more than 30percent since 1990, and are researching ways to cut it even more, hesaid. At an event at the Canadian Embassy in May, a representative fromthe U.S. State Department said that an oil supply from a stable,democratic ally enhances "global security today and into the future".In the meantime, many proposals for low-carbon fuel standards in U.Sstates are "stalled," one source said. Wisconsin, for example, strippedthe idea out of a bill that failed in its legislature this year.

Opposition Continuesto Build in AK Over Plan by Folks Who Have Never Been to the State toLock Up Millions of Acres – Let’s Just Call It “Wilderness”! — onNorth Slope. Paul Jenkins writes (5/15) in the Anchorage Daily News,“Here’s a lousy idea: Let’s lock up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s1.5 million-acre coastal plain as a wilderness so the evil oil industrycan never search for the estimated 11 billion barrels of recoverableoil believed pooled there. After all, the Energy InformationAdministration says this nation only imports 9.7 million barrels ofcrude oil a day, up more than a half-million barrels daily over thesame period last year. About 5.9 million barrels come from our goodfriends at OPEC. With all that, who really needs to find and producenew oil? That’s easy. We do. At a Tuesday night hearing in Anchorage,39 people spoke against a wilderness designation, 26 in favor. There isgrowing opposition to the idea across Alaska, where ANWR developmentgenerally is supported — and where there already are more than 58million acres of designated wilderness and more than 190 millionprotected acres. Gov. Sean Parnell and Sens. Lisa Murkowski and MarkBegich already are on record against such a designation for the coastalplain. ANWR’s coastal plain is just a tiny dot on Alaska’s topographical face, butit stirs strong emotions. It is either our best shot at another oiljackpot or a pristine, sensitive American Serengeti.

How Dead IsCap-and-Raid? So Dead, That Even the Furthest-to-the-Left Candidate forU.S. Senate in KY Can’t Tell People Fast Enough that He Opposes It. Lt. Gov. and U.S. Senate candidate Don Mongiardo writes (5/16) in the Lexington Herald-Leader,“The fundamental question for Democratic Primary voters is: Who’s onyour side? As attorney general, Jack Conway collected over $70,000 incampaign cash from utility companies while his office negotiatedmillions in rate hikes. Conway has pocketed $106,000 from Wall Streetinsiders, including Goldman Sachs. I have stood up for Kentuckyratepayers and challenged Conway on his unethical conduct and proposedthe toughest Wall Street reforms of any candidate. Since expressingsupport for Henry Waxman’s cap-and-trade bill last year, nationalDemocrats have pumped over $500,000 into Conway’s campaign coffers. In contrast, I strongly oppose cap and trade. It will devastate Kentucky’s economy and increase electric rates.If you’re looking for another lawyer-politician who’s more comfortableschmoozing with Washington lobbyists than Kentucky factory workers,Jack’s your guy. But if you’re looking for a small-town doctor who willhold Wall Street accountable, get spending under control and championthe cause of Kentucky’s working families, your hunt is over.

Energy “Dilettantes”Lead Procession Toward the Cliff in the U.S. Senate – Conn. PaperWonders Aloud How 2 Dudes from New England Got Tasked With This Job. Waterbury (Conn.) American-Republican(5/18) editorializes, “Sen. Kerry was joined by global-warmingdilettante Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in introducing Cap-and-Tax II.Thankfully, no Republicans, not even mushy-middleman Lindsey Graham,R-S.C., joined the party. So there’s hope wiser men and women in theSenate will block this abomination, at least until voters in Novemberbuild a more permanent firewall against Democratic folly andoverreaching. Sen. Kerry is precisely wrong in his assertion Americaneeds a new energy policy because of the Deepwater Horizon oil-rigdisaster. What it needs is intelligent, ethical, watchful regulation ofoil exploration. Americans have known for at least two years that theMinerals Management Service, the arm of the Interior Departmentresponsible for enforcing such regulations, was corrupt. Sen. Kerryknows perfectly well the Deepwater Horizon disaster is rare if notunprecedented, and that thousands of other oil rigs have operatedwithout incident in U.S. waters for decades. The accident did not setup a clamor for new policy; it revealed a need for more carefulregulation and, perhaps, an investment by oil companies and governmentinto strategies for preventing leaks.