News

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 Ken Salazar exceededhis authority when he order 77 federal oil and gas leases in Utah withdrawn inearly 2009, a federal court judge ruled on Sept. 1 in Salt Lake City.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.

Thank You, Sen.Murkowski for Your Service to the Last Frontier and the Nation. AnchorageDaily News (8.31) reports, "Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday nightconceded the Republican primary election to Joe Miller, the tea party backedchallenger who maintained his Election Day lead after thousands of additionalabsentee and other ballots were counted through the day. Miller said Murkowskicalled him early this evening to say she was conceding. "I thanked her forthe hard-fought contest and wished her the best and asked for unity,"Miller said in a telephone interview from his hometown of Fairbanks. Millersaid he thinks Murkowski will end up supporting him in the general election."I’m going to give her some time and we’re going to talk more about itlater," he said. Miller said he’s going to meet with close friends andfamily Tuesday night. "Then we’ll probably head back to the office and dosome more campaign work a little bit later tonight," Miller said onTuesday. Miller will now face Democrat Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka, inthe November general election."

Hey NYT, Lookingfor Good-Paying, Family Sustaining Jobs? Look no Further Than Pennsylvania, andThank the Marcellus Shale and Hydraulic Fracturing; or Does That Not Count? NYTimes (8.31) reports, "With the country focused on job growth and withunemployment continuing to hover above 9 percent, comparatively littleattention has been paid to the quality of the jobs being created and what thatmight say about the opportunities available to workers when the recessionfinally settles. There are reasons for concern, however, even in the earlystages of a tentative recovery that now appears to be barely wheezing along.For years, long before the recession began, job growth had become increasinglypolarized in this country. High-paid occupations that require significantamounts of education and training grew rapidly alongside low-wage, service-typejobs that do not, according to David Autor, a labor economist at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology. The growth of these low-wage jobs beganin the 1980s, accelerated in the 1990s and began to really take off in the2000s. Losing out in the shuffle, Dr. Autor said, were jobs that he describedas "middle-skill, middle-wage" – entry-level white-collar positions, likeoffice and administrative support work, and certain blue-collar jobs, likeassembly line workers and machine operators."

Lame DuckStrategy Takes Hold. Days Before Senate Returns from Recess, and After Big Windand Solar Spent Millions Lobbying, Expensive, Intermittent Energy Mandate Backin the Picture. TheHill (8.31) reports, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) saidTuesday a nationwide renewable-electricity standard, or RES, is "absolutely" inthe mix as he tries to salvage energy legislation this year – possibly in alame-duck session. Before the August recess, Reid said he doubted an RES -which would require utilities to provide escalating amounts of power fromsources like wind and solar energy – could win 60 votes. It was left on thecutting-room floor when Reid unveiled a modest energy bill in late July. ButReid told reporters on a conference call Tuesday the energy bill is still awork in progress and cited two Republicans who have expressed interest in anRES. He did not name them. "I am going to tie them down a little more closely,"Reid said. He spoke on a conference call to promote a Sept. 7 energy conferencethat he is co-hosting at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Reid alsosuggested passing energy legislation could be more likely during a lame-ducksession. He noted the Senate would resume work after the recess but added, "Maybe,after the elections, we can get some more Republicans to work with us."

More Hot Air.Mass. High Court Sides With Cape Wind Developers; Still have to Answer ThisFundamental Question: Who’s Going to Buy the Electricity? The AP(8.31) reports, Developers of a proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm were clearedto move forward Tuesday when Massachusetts’ high court rejected a claim thatthe project sidestepped local opposition to win a key permit. Cape Windproject, a 130-turbine proposal that would be the nation’s first offshore windfarm, was given permission last year by a state board to build powertransmission lines through state waters. The Supreme Judicial Court backed thatdecision in a 4-2 ruling. Cape Wind had gone to the state after a local board,the Cape Cod Commission, rejected in 2007 its request to build about 18 milesof undersea and underground transmission cables to connect to the regionalelectric power grid. The local board said Cape Wind hadn’t provided sufficientinformation. Opponents argued the state exceeded its powers and was trumped bythe local ruling, but the court disagreed. It said that that interpretationwould mean the state Energy Facilities Siting Board’s authority appliedeverywhere but Cape Cod. Next week, the Massachusetts Department of PublicUtilities will begin considering whether Cape Wind’s pending 15-year deal withNational Grid is a good deal for ratepayers. Under the deal, the utility would buy half of Cape Wind’s power,starting at 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour. That’s about twice what the utilitypays for power from conventional sources, but Cape Wind backers say thatgiven the volatility of fossil fuel costs, the price will be a good deal overthe life of the contract."

Add Japan tothe List. Countries Around the World see Value in Marcellus Shale; Wonder WhenBoth Ends of Pennsylvania. Ave. will Take Note. Bloomberg(9.1) reports, "Sumitomo Corp., Japan’s third- largest trading company,agreed to pay Rex Energy Corp. about $140 million for a 30 percent stake in agas venture in the Marcellus Shale region in the U.S. Sumitomo plans to investabout $1.2 billion in the project during the next ten years, it said today in astatement on the company’s website. Sumitomo’s Summit Discovery Resources IILLC unit will pay about $88.4 million in cash for the stake and a further $52million toward drilling costs, Rex Energy said in a statement yesterday.Japanese trading companies including Mitsubishi Corp. are increasinginvestments in extracting methane trapped in shale rock thousands of feet belowthe earth’s surface to tap demand for the cleaner-burning fuel. The latest dealis Sumitomo’s second purchase of shale gas assets in the U.S. after it paid $25million for a 12.5 percent stake in a venture in the Barnett Shale region ofTexas from Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. The Marcellus Shale project involvesdrilling more than 1,100 wells in an area located in Butler County,Pennsylvania, in the next decade. Gas output is expected to peak at 46 billioncubic feet a year, Sumitomo said in the statement."

Blame it onBush. AP Dispatch on Solar Points Finger at Bush Admin. For Lack ofDevelopment; Could it be that Suncatchers are Expensive, Unreliable and Use aTon or Water? The AP(9.1) reports, "Not a light bulb’s worth of solar electricity has beenproduced on the millions of acres of public desert set aside for it. Not oneproject to build glimmering solar farms has even broken ground. Instead, fiveyears after federal land managers opened up stretches of the Southwest todevelopers, vast tracts still sit idle. An Associated Press examination of U.S.Bureau of Land Management records and interviews with agency officials showsthat the BLM operated a first-come, first-served leasing system that quicklyoverwhelmed its small staff and enabled companies, regardless of solar industryexperience, to squat on land without any real plans to develop it. At a timewhen the nation drills ever deeper for oil off its shores even as it tries todiversify its energy supply, the federal government has, so far, failed to usethe land it already has – some of the world’s best for solar – to producerenewable electricity. "Clearly we spent a lot of time and effort on oiland gas, but those priorities have changed," Ray Brady, BLM’s head ofenergy policy in Washington, told the AP. The Bush administration, however,kept BLM’s focus on oil. BLM’s database of solar applications shows manylanguished for years while the agency approved more than 73,000 oil and gasleases in the last five years. BLM has yet to give final approval to one solarlease. BLM’s solar leasing system ended up allowing developers to lay claim toprime sites – many located in the deserts that span California, Nevada andArizona. All developers had to do was fill out an application, pay a fee andfile development plans."

George Sorosand Co. Hard at Work Supporting/Funding Anti-Energy Movement in America; StoryYet to be Picked up by MSM. EdLasky writes (9.1) at TheAmerican Thinker, "The sinister, omnipresent moneybags of the Americanleft, George Soros, knows that distraction and misdirection make for a gooddefense. So do his many lackeys and sympathizers in the American media. JaneMayer’s 10,000-word article in the New Yorker, titled "Covert Operations:the billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama," has beenwidely cited in other liberal media. Mayer just let the claim that Soros has nomonetary interest when he gives money stand unchallenged — and that wasshameful. Where was the famed New Yorker fact-checking department? Did they getlaid off? What planet do Mayer and Rich live on? Soros obviously has hisfinancial interests in mind when he gives, and he knows how to use his billionsto make more billions by tapping his friends in high places in the DemocraticParty.Soros’s pet think-tank, the Center for American Progress, constantlypushes green schemes. Democratic politicians are on board, as well. This groupincludes Barack Obama who, runs after one electric battery, solar power plant,and windmill after another (when he is not on the links or listening to livemusic at the club he created in the East Room of the White House). How generoushave Obama and the Democrats been to the green schemers? The grand champion ofbudget-busting departments has been the "Energy Efficiency and RenewableProgram," which received $1.7 billion in 2008 and $16.8 billion in 2009, a1,014% increase in just one year. Media reports over the past year or so havetied numerous Democratic donors to these "ventures." They have beenrichly rewarded with taxpayer dollars."

TrustUs, You Won’t Feel a Thing: EPA Chief Characterizes UpcomingCommand-and-Control Carbon Criminalization Rules over Entire US Economy as "ModestIn Scope." TheHill (8/30) reports, "EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said over the weekendthat upcoming climate regulations are modest in scope, comments that come amidCapitol Hill efforts to scuttle the rules, EPA is set to begin regulatinggreenhouse gases from power plants and other large emissions sources in 2011,but vows to phase in the requirements slowly and shield small businesses. "They[the rules] will be modest, each and every one, because business needs time tounderstand the regulations that are coming at them. There won’t be any hugeshocks to the system," Jackson told National Public Radio in an interviewbroadcast Sunday. Some Capitol Hill lawmakers hope to derail EPA’s ability toregulate greenhouse gas emissions; regulations also face court challenges. Criticsof the regulations allege they will harm the economy, while defenders call thefears overblown and say the rules are needed to help slow global warming. Sen.Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has said that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) haspromised him a vote this year on his bill to block EPA rules governingstationary emissions sources for two years. Opponents have also eyedappropriations bills for riders to scuttle EPA’s authority. Jackson also saidshe remains hopeful Congress will return to climate.

Haley’sComment: Mississippi Gov. Gets Another Top Interior Official to Go On theRecord Predicting Premature End to Obama’s Failed Offshore Ban. AssociatedPress (8/30) reports, "Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. HaleyBarbour used the Southern Governors’ Association convention in suburbanBirmingham to press the funding issue with two officials of the Obamaadministration: senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and assistant secretary ofInterior Wilma Lewis. The convention offered Barbour an opportunity to air hisfrustration with the administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling,particularly after President Obama did not discuss it Sunday in his visit toNew Orleans. Lewis said people must remember that 11 workers lost their livesin the April accident. She said a six-month pause to Nov. 30 was needed to makesafety changes and make sure a future spill can be contained. But she said somerigs that are deemed to be safer than others might be allowed to return to workbefore Nov. 30. Barbour said the moratorium had worsened the spill’s economicimpact on the Gulf states and caused oil companies to increase their interestin drilling in areas far beyond the Gulf. "I don’t know how to describe itother than pouring salt in a wound," he said. Barbour and Riley alsocomplained about a lack of information about the administration’s recovery planfor the region, headed by former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus.

ThatShould Do It: New BOEMRE Chief Thinks He’s Found the Cure to All that AiledFormer MMS: Prevent BOEMRE Inspectors from Eating Lunch with Industry. The HoustonChronicle (8/31) reports, "The Obama administration on Monday imposed anunprecedented conflict-of-interest policy on federal drilling regulators in abid to put greater distance between inspectors and the offshore platforms andrigs they police. The rule is aimed at strengthening oversight of the offshoredrilling industry following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and reports thatofficials at the former Minerals Management Service – now the Bureau of OceanEnergy Management, Regulation and Enforcement – sometimes were too cozy withenergy companies. Bureau Director Michael Bromwich announced the new policy,which takes effect immediately, in an e-mail to employees late Monday. Bureauemployees now must tell supervisors about any potential conflict of interestand submit formal requests not to be assigned inspections or other officialduties when those conflicts arise. The employees also must ask to step downwhen their inspections or official duties involve a company employing a familymember or close personal friend. And for at least two years, they cannot perform inspections or otherwork involving former employers in the industry. Lawmakers in the House andSenate have advanced proposals for a similar two-year timeout.

Who’sDown for a Rally? Lots of Pro-Energy Folks All Across Texas This Week, and AllAcross Ohio, Illinois, N.M, and Colo. over the Next Few Weeks. HoustonBusiness Journal (8/30) reports, "A group led by the American PetroleumInstitute is simultaneously holding a "Rally for Jobs" in three Texas cities,including Houston, on Sept. 1. The rallies, scheduled for 10:30 a.m., will takeplace in Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center, in Port Arthur atthe Port Arthur Civic Center and the American Bank Center Convention Center inCorpus Christi. The rallies will focus on the energy industry’s impact on thestate’s economic development. The oil and natural gas industry supports morethan 1.7 million jobs in Texas and accounts for almost 25 percent of the state’seconomy, according to API. "The focus of the rallies will be jobs and theeconomy," said Jack Gerard, API president and chief executive, in a statement. "U.S.unemployment is high, and Americans have growing concerns over the economicrecovery." The Texas rallies will be the first in a series to take place inOhio, Illinois, New Mexico and Colorado during the congressional recess period,according to the organizers.

InvestigatorsRecommend a Bit Less Political Cheerleading in the Future from UN’s IPCC Panel -No Need to Cut the Hackery Out Completely, But Moderation would be Prudent. LondonTelegraph (8/31) reports, "A group of leading scientists from around theworld said on Monday that the leaders of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change had left themselves open to the accusation that they had"gone beyond IPCC’s remit". In March the Amsterdam-based InterAcademyCouncil (IAC) was called in after a number of errors were found in the IPCC’slandmark 2007 Fourth Assessment Report into man-made climate change. On Mondaythe IAC announced its recommendations on how to strengthen the IPCC, saying it"needs fundamental reform" to convince an ever more skeptical publicthat its science was solid. The report also recommended that a "rigorousconflict-of-interest policy" should be drawn up for senior IPCC leadershipand authors of its reports. In the future no individual should chair the IPCCfor more than one six-year term, it stated.  Additionally, "formal qualifications for the chair andall other Bureau members need to be developed", the IAC said. The IAC alsosaid the IPCC should tighten up on its use of so-called "grayliterature" – that which has not been peer-reviewed. Prof Shapiro said:"IPCC has guidelines for the use of such sources, but these guidelines arevague and have not always been followed."

SoYou Have an Extra $35,000 Sitting Around and a Hankering for a 100-HP ElectricCar that Dies After 100 Miles of Sputtering Along? Nissan’s Got You Covered. VentureBeat magazine (8/30) reports, "Word on the street is that Nissan will starttaking orders tomorrow for the hotly anticipated Leaf, the world’s firstmass-produced electric vehicle priced low enough for the general consumer. Theautomaker has been accepting reservations for a refundable fee of $99, andalready has 18,000 pre-orders, according to John Schilling, Nissan spokesman -with a goal of reaching 20,000 by December. More than half of the reservationsare from people in the five states where the Leaf will have its initialrollout. The rollout will be staggered. The first vehicles will go to driversin Arizona, Tennessee, California, Washington and Oregon, then in January toTexas and Hawaii. The car maker expects the Leaf to be available everywhere inthe U.S. by the end of 2011. Officially, Nissan declined to comment on the dateorders will start, saying only that it "will happen soon," but it’s beingreported that a Washington dealership has posted on Mynissanleaf.com that tomorrow’sthe big day. Nissan says it can take the car 100 miles in a single charge.

RememberWhen Germans Made Cars? Now They Make Ridiculous Promises about How Much Windand Solar They’ll Use 40 Years from Now – Achtung! Dow Jones(8/30) reports, "Most of Germany’s energy demand can be met through renewablesources by 2050 but this is dependent on agreeing ambitious, multi-billion euroexpenditure, according to the conclusions of a government-commissioned reportinto the country’s future energy policy. Environment Minister Norbert Roettgenand Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle, who jointly presented the findings ofthe report in Berlin Monday, said all of the several scenarios the report hasdrawn up project that Germany can meet its climate protection targets if itincreases the use of renewable energies, improves energy efficiency andmodernizes its energy infrastructure. To achieve the goals, however, massiveinvestments by both private and public sectors will be required.  Germany plans to reduce greenhouse gasemissions 40% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels.Roettgen and Bruederle also said the study argues for the longer use of nuclearenergy to assist in reaching these goals. "The appraisal shows thatextending the lifespan will lower CO2 gas emissions," said Bruederle.

Savethe Possums: Enviros Play Dead in Weekend Feature in the Wash Post – Say They’reDown and Out, But Influx of Lots MoreCash Could Change All That. WashingtonPost (8/29) reports, "On Thursday, some of the country’s most respectedenvironmental groups – in the midst of their biggest political fight in twodecades – sent a group of activists to Milwaukee with a message. We’re losing.A year ago, these groups seemed to be at the peak of their influence, needingonly the Senate’s approval for a landmark climate-change bill. But they lostthat fight, done in by the sluggish economy and opposition from business andfossil-fuel interests. Now the groups are wondering how they can keep this lossfrom becoming a rout as their opponents press their advantage and try to undothe Obama administration’s climate efforts. At two events last week inWisconsin, environmental groups seemed to be trying two strategies: defianceand pleading for sympathy. Neither one drew enough people to fill a high schoolgym. "What was revealed by the last year or two was that the energyindustry hasn’t even had to break a sweat yet in beating this stuff off. Ourside did absolutely everything you’re supposed to do . . . but gotnowhere," said author Bill McKibben, who co-founded the climate-focusedgroup 350.org.

YouWon’t Believe This; Are You Sitting Down? Turns Out Folks in Europe Are Gamingthe Cap-and-Raid System – Making Lots of Money, with Zero EnvironmentalBenefit. NYTimes (8/29) reports, "The business works as follows: Factories producingrefrigerants install equipment to transform the waste gas so it has lesswarming potential and then apply to the United Nations for permission to sellcredits.  The factories sellcredits in proportion to the overall amount of gas destroyed to buyers thatinclude governments, banks, trading companies and utilities. Buyers can sellthe credits again on emissions trading markets or use them to meet their legalor voluntary obligations to cut emissions. Most of the demand for those creditsis in the European Union, where polluters have operated under a mandatory cap-and-tradesystem since 2005. Europe dominates a market for greenhouse gases worth $144billion worldwide in 2009.  Chinahas been among the biggest beneficiaries by generating offsets under a programknown as the Clean Development Mechanism that is overseen by the U.N. climateoffice in Bonn. Critics have warned for years that this form of offsettingwould encourage profiteering, with little or no value in efforts to curbclimate change. More recently, opponents of offsetting have likened the systemto the kind of financial engineering on Wall Street that helped precipitate therecent banking crisis.

LouisianaGov. Says Offshore Ban Is Hurting His State’s People and Economy – In WaysAnalysts in New York and Washington DC Have No Ability to Comprehend. TheHill (8/29) reports, "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) on Sunday blastedPresident Obama’s failure to revisit his ban on offshore oil drilling.   "We don’t think the fact thatthey’re not doing their jobs in D.C. should cost thousands of Louisianans ourjobs," Jindal told reporters shortly after the president spoke at XavierUniversity in New Orleans. Obama’s speech on the fifth anniversary of HurricaneKatrina addressed the rebuilding of New Orleans and his commitment to clean upthe BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but did not mention his administration’sdecision to halt deepwater offshore exploration until Nov. 30. The White Houseis reportedly considering an early end to the ban but Jindal wants to see a "greatersense of urgency" from the president. "The experts all agree, we can end thismoratorium before six months," he said. "Let’s put our people back towork. "I don’t think they understood how the energy industry worked – I thinkthey really thought that the rigs could simply flip a switch," he said. "In thebeginning, the administration suggested people file BP claims with unemploymentclaims. We made it clear that people want to go back to work." Clickhere to see William O’Reilly’s interview on Platts Energy Weekyesterday – one in which he makes clear that he opposes Obama moratorium.

WhatAbout that Effect? Obama Says Economic Situation in Gulf a Lot Better thanExpected – Just Wait a Couple Weeks, Says API’s Radford – ‘Bout to Get a LotWorse. NewOrleans Times-Picayune (8/29) reports, "Only a few rigs have left the Gulfof Mexico because of the federal deepwater drilling moratorium, but thedirective could dampen long-term activity in the Gulf if it drags on, a seniorpolicy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute said last week.  "Large operators have a number ofleases in play, and they can ride out some level of inactivity," AndyRadford told a group of journalists convened in New Orleans by the PoynterInstitute, a Florida-based school and resource for journalists. "There isa willingness to ride it out," but companies are also waiting to see someindication that they will be allowed to resume deepwater drilling. "Ithink the next few months will be critical," Radford said.  The moratorium, which the Obamaadministration put in place in late May soon after the BP oil spill, suspendsexploratory drilling at 33 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico for sixmonths, but it remains unclear just how long the moratorium could last.  A long moratorium eventually could curbinterest among energy companies in bidding for drilling tracts in the Gulf andcause a downward trend in offshore production.  "You won’t feel the (full) effects of it until down theroad," Radford said.

Facedwith Far Less Attention After Splashy Release of GasLand, Director Forced toRatchet Up the Bombast to Cling to the Spotlight – Credibility Be Damned. IPAA /EID’s Lee Fuller writes in the GlenwoodSprings (Colo.) Post Independent, "In an Aug. 26 story, Josh Fox – directorof the film Gasland – continues to perpetuate a host of blatantly false claimsabout American’s natural gas industry, particularly the use of hydraulicfracturing technology. Your readers should understand that hydraulic fracturinghas been safely used nationwide over 1.1 million times since it first came intocommercial use in 1949. It’s a technology that has never contaminatedgroundwater, a fact reinforced by top EPA officials as recently as this year.Colorado’s top oil and gas regulator, David Neslin, also confirms "there hasbeen no verified instance of harm to groundwater caused by hydraulic fracturingin Colorado." And while Fox claims that "a huge array of chemicals" are used inthe fracturing process, the truth is these fluids are composed almost entirelyof water and sand – with a small portion of additives (0.05 percent of the mix)used to kill bacteria and reduce friction. These additives can be commonlyfound in one’s kitchen cupboard and in every day food products, and a list ofthese are required by federal law to be available at every well site in thenation. The top environmental regulator in Pennsylvania has called Josh Fox a "propagandist,"saying the film is "fundamentally dishonest" and "a deliberately falsepresentation for dramatic effect." And a longtime New York Times editor calledthe film "one-sided," "flawed," and "in the Michael Moore mode." But you don’thave to take their word for it. Download our point-by-point rebuttal of thefilm at Energyindepth.org.

What’sthe President Focusing on Right Now in the Gulf? Shrimpers? Crabbers? TheClean-Up? Nope – He’s Trying to Convince Brian Williams This Isn’t His Katrina.NBC News(8/29) reports, "As BP struggled for weeks to cap the well that began gushingoil into the Gulf of Mexico in April, Obama came under similar pressure fromenvironmental activists who said the federal government should have stepped inearlier and taken greater control – leading, as Williams noted, to critics’characterization of the oil spill as "Obama’s Katrina."  "That is just not accurate," Obamasaid, pointing to the $20 billion fund BP set up under federal  supervision to compensate victims ofthe oil spill. Obama said failures in the aftermath of Katrina made it clearthat "the real protection for New Orleans and the coast are the wetlands,"lessons that he said provided important guidance in allowing his administrationto respond quickly in the days after the oil spill. "We’ve got a lot more workto do," he said. "But the fact is because of the sturdiness and swiftness ofthe response, there’s a lot less oil hitting these shores and these beaches thananybody would have anticipated given the volume that was coming out of the BPoil well."

Scienceof the Lambs: Extremists Who Took Orgo and Therefore Say They’re "Scientists"Angry that More Hasn’t Been Done Faster to Dismantle Modern Economy. E&E News (8/27,subs. req’d) reports, "Obama outlined a slew of intentions in a March 2009memo, writing that political officials "should not suppress or alterscientific or technological findings and conclusions." Research, he wrote,should be transparent and available to the public, while agencies should hirescientists solely for their expertise. The president also directed the WhiteHouse Office of Science and Technology Policy to create a set of guidelines toensure agencies met these goals. But Holdren wrote in June that Obama’s memoalready bound agencies to improving their policies regarding research andtransparency. "There should not be any doubt that these principles havebeen in effect — that is, binding on all Executive departments and agencies –from the date of issue of the Memorandum on March 9, 2009," he wrote.Advocacy groups are skeptical. "I’m sure there’s been improvement. Thequestion is how much and how widespread," said Grifo. "Is it enough?No. We’re still hearing from folks. … Decisions are being made that aren’twith the best science." The Union of Concerned Scientists has been closelyfollowing the issue for more than two years, keeping track of decisions and newsthat indicate whether federal agencies are beginning to give scientists moreclout. When EPA disclosed the ingredients of the oil dispersant used in theGulf, the nonprofit marked the move as a step forward. But the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration earned a "red light" on UCS’s websitewhen scientists criticized the agency for inaccurately measuring the spill’ssize.

EtTu, Grumet? Fmr. Obama Energy Advisor Drops Heavy Political Ordnance on WhiteHouse in Form of New Report Calling for Obama Offshore Ban to Be Lifted.Bloomberg(8/26) reports, "President Barack Obama’s moratorium on deep-water drilling isno longer needed because new rules reduce the risk of an uncontrolled spill,according to a report for a panel investigating BP Plc’s blowout. Rules issuedin June by the Interior Department "provide an adequate margin of safety toresponsibly allow the resumption of deep-water drilling," according to thereport today from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based researchgroup. The rules, if followed by BP, Apache Corp. and other drillers, andenforced by regulators, "will achieve a significant and beneficial reduction ofrisk." "It confirms what we’ve been saying in Louisiana, that a six-monthmoratorium is arbitrary and capricious," Louisiana Lieutenant Governor ScottAngelle, a Democrat, said today in an interview. The rules "have created anenvironment where a bipartisan, independent group says we can get back to work.We need to start issuing permits." Contributors to the report issued today alsoinclude Elgie Holstein, senior director for strategic planning at the NewYork-based Environmental Defense Fund. Grumet’s report can be found here.

EtTu, Bob Gates? Obama Defense Department Also Poking the Administration in theEye on Energy – This Time, Expressing Concerns on Wind Mills in the Mojave. NYTimes (8/26) reports, "The United States military has found a new menacehiding here in the vast emptiness of the Mojave Desert in California: windturbines. Moving turbine blades can be indistinguishable from airplanes on manyradar systems, and they can even cause blackout zones in which planes disappearfrom radar entirely. Clusters of wind turbines, which can reach as high as 400feet, look very similar to storm activity on weather radar, making it harderfor air traffic controllers to give accurate weather information topilots.  Although the military saysno serious incidents have yet occurred because of the interference, the windturbines pose an unacceptable risk to training, testing and national securityin certain regions, Dr. Dorothy Robyn, deputy under secretary of defense,recently told a House Armed Services subcommittee. Because of its concerns, theDefense Department has emerged as a formidable opponent of wind projects indirect conflict with another branch of the federal government, the EnergyDepartment, which is spending billions of dollars on wind projects as part ofPresident Obama’s broader effort to promote renewable energy.

SeeHow They Run: If You’re a Public Official in Appalachia with the Letter "D"After Your Name, "Obama" and "EPA" Aren’t Things You’re Associating YourselfWith Right Now. Greenwire/NYTimes (8/26) reports, "Democrats in Appalachia are running away from the Obamaadministration’s coal record like their political lives depend on it. They maybe right. After decades in Democrats’ hands, much of the mountain corridor hasdrifted toward Republicans in national elections. Energy issues have driven theswitch, particularly since 2000, when Al Gore came to West Virginia touting acarbon-free future and became the fourth Democratic presidential candidate tolose the state since the Great Depression. Along with the president’s push forlimits on greenhouse gas emissions, U.S. EPA in April singled out the sixstates for special restrictions on mountaintop removal coal mining. EPA alsostopped the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from issuing permits for 79 surfaceand mountaintop mines in the region, saying they would have violated the CleanWater Act. To date, six of those permits have been approved. "I thinkthere is a danger for Democrats that being seen as a Democrat means being seenas being a supporter of Obama’s EPA," said Phil Smith, a spokesman for theUnited Mine Workers of America. "There is a risk for Democratic candidatesto be tied to it, if they let themselves."

Deloitte:Shale Gas, Other Not-So-Unconventionals Primed for Enormous Expansion Over Next20 Years – Will Double Their Share of the Market, All Thanks to HF. Greenwire (8/26, subs.req’d) reports, "Unconventional natural gas sources will double their share ofthe U.S. market in the next 20 years, say analysts at Deloitte in a new report.Abundant supplies of gas from huge shale deposits in the United States and theexpanding international market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) should also keepprices depressed for years to come, the company says. At the same time,Deloitte’s survey of evolving trends in the industry shows shale gas productionis getting cheaper and more cost-effective, enticing the world’s largest oilcompanies to creep into a sector long dominated by smaller independent producers.Deloitte sees low pricing as the norm for some time but does not see it as aproblem for shale gas developers as companies have undertaken impressive costreductions. Gas at $3.38 per million Btu is the "break even point"for producers at the Eagle Ford shale formation in south Texas, the firm pointsout. The relative success of independent oil and gas producers, driven largelyby shale exploration, is now causing larger producers to enter the fray in anincreasingly big way.

DevonChief: Reid Tried to Pull a Fast One with Sweet-and-Sour Approach to NatGas inEnergy Bill – But Be Advised: Helluva Lot More Vinegar in There Than Molasses. Devon CEO Larry Nichols writes (8/27) in the Oklahoman,"The [Reid] bill would have had the Environmental Protection Agency requirenatural gas producers to identify chemicals added to water used to fractureshale natural gas formations. Environmental groups have been campaigning foryears to move hydraulic fracturing oversight from states to federaljurisdiction, where it would be subject to a host of new regulatory burdensthat could discourage exploration, slow production, reduce gas supplies, raiseenergy costs and erode high-paying jobs. The Reid bill would have been a firststep. Reid’s bill presented some difficult choices for Inhofe and Coburn. Bothsenators support the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Natural gasis the cleanest fossil fuel, it is abundant and Oklahoma is the nation’sthird-largest producer. The bill would also have encouraged energy efficiencyand, perhaps, created manufacturing jobs in Oklahoma. The problem is thenegatives far outweigh the positives. Because of Inhofe, Coburn and others whoput our nation’s economy before ideology, Reid’s bill never made it to thefloor. For the time being, we are relieved. Meanwhile, we are still waiting foran energy policy that will promote all of our energy resources, create jobs,strengthen our economy and ensure our nation’s energy security.

JohnDoerr Made a Billion Dollars the Right Way – Now He’s Trying to See if He CanMake a Billion More Through Rent-Seeking, Crony Capitalism, "Green" Hedging. Amanda Carey writes (8/26) for the DailyCaller, "Doerr has been responsible for the firm’s successful investmentsin companies like Compaq, Intuit, AOL, Amazon, Netscape and Google. No onewould argue that Doerr hasn’t earned his spot on Forbes magazine’s annualrichest people in the world list. However, in recent years, Doerr hasredirected his talent from picking out successful start-up companies tosuccessfully lobbying the Obama administration into supporting "green"initiatives. While Doerr considers himself "a raging capitalist," what he hasbeen doing the last few years may be more akin to crony capitalism. With hislobbying, political advising and picky investing, Doerr has been one of themain movers behind green policy initiatives in Washington D.C, creating a webof players within a new industrial complex of green initiatives and renewableenergy. He’s also been one of the biggest profiteers from it. "I think Doerr,like most, supports people he knows will support him," Chris Horner, seniorfellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told The Daily Caller. "He[Doerr] is invaluable to them as a committee hearing witness. And, because they[politicians] are promoting the coercive transfer of wealth to ‘investments’ ofhis – investments that he made on the cheap because they’re uneconomic, but canreap tremendous ‘rents’ if their agenda of taking effective control of theenergy sector is affected – they are invaluable to him," said Horner. He added,"I don’t know if he has been trading tit for tat, but it is clearly a mutualbenefits society."

Here’sHow Much Greens Hate Coal: So Much, That They’d Rather Keep 80 Million Peoplein India in the Dark than Allow Them Access to Coal-Fired Electricity.  TheHill (8/26) reports, "I’m pleased with the unanimous vote of approval tobuild an Indian power plant, which will lead to hundreds of jobs forMilwaukee-area residents. I hope this vote symbolizes a new direction for theObama Administration, where policies promote American economic growth ratherthan ship jobs overseas. Next, the President should acknowledge the harmfulconsequences cap-and-tax will impose on American workers," said Sensenbrenner,the ranking member of the Select Committee for Energy Independence and GlobalWarming, in a statement. But several environmental groups are bashing thefinancing. Three groups – Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club and PacificEnvironment – said in a statement Wednesday that the project alone wouldproduce carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to one-fifth of the coal plantsproposed in the United States. "The fix is in at Ex-Im Bank. The Bank’s boardbowed to political pressure and in so doing wastes public financing to worsentheir fossil fuel binge," said Doug Norlen, policy director of PacificEnvironment. The bank board’s decision to approve the financing Wednesday is areversal of the bank’s earlier rejection of the project, according to multiplepress accounts.

It’sClearly Not About the Carbon, Friends: Same Enviros – Same Damned Ones! – WhoOppose Coal in India Oppose Emissions-Free Nuclear Power in South Carolina. ClimateWire (8/26)reports, "The five NRC commissioners are scheduled to announce a decision on achallenge raised by the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth against twoproposed nuclear reactors planned for the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station inFairfield County, S.C. The two environmental activist organizations contendthat the project’s sponsors — South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. (SCE&G)and the South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) — did notseriously consider "greener" alternatives to the proposed reactors,such as offshore wind and demand response programs. And that violates theNational Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which the NRC is obliged to uphold,the Sierra Club and FOE insist. An NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board paneldismissed the environmental groups’ objections to the utilities’ environmentalplan for the Summer project last year, calling the challenge "vague andgeneralized." In its environmental statement to the NRC, SCE&Gprojected that its baseload capacity would increase by 24 percent between 2007and 2021, due to growing demand for power it anticipates in the state from anexpanding population and business base (South Carolina also exports power toother states).

MusiciansSay They Won’t Play a Horse Show Because It’s Sponsored by a Local Coal Company- No Problem Using Those ELECTRIC Guitars Though, Huh Fellas? Lexington(Ky.) Herald-Leader (8/24) reports, "At least four entertainment acts haverefused to perform during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games because a coalcompany is one of the major sponsors. Acts who won’t be appearing as part ofthe Kentucky Experience Pavilion include the musical groups Reel World StringBand, Kentucky Wild Horse and Randy Wilson, and storyteller Octavia Sexton. Allare performers with strong Appalachian ties, who often incorporate coal mines andminers into their performances. Reel World String Band, for example, wouldlikely have performed The Taking, which includes a line about stopping"the greed of the coal companies." The artists were selected by theKentucky Arts Council several months ago as part of an effort to showcase thestate’s tourism, businesses and arts and crafts in a group of large structuresat the Kentucky Horse Park. While the arts council was choosing performers, thestate Department of Tourism was lining up sponsors. John Harrod, a member ofthe group Kentucky Wild Horse, said that was something he could not do. "Icould not in good conscience allow myself to be used as an advertisement for anindustry that has bought and corrupted our legislature and consistently blockedall efforts by our state to move ahead on sustainable energy," Harrod saidMonday.

Rockin’Bakken: Innovative Technology, Leadership of Folks from Whiting, Others,Helping Transform North Dakota’s Economy – So Much So that Even NPR Is Smitten. NPR(8/25) reports, "JEFF BRADY: Head out to the wheat fields south of Stanley, andthe peace and quiet folks around here value is interrupted.  Whiting Petroleum owns this talldrilling rig and plans to drill about 400 wells in the region. It can take 20days to drill just one, according to the company’s Blaine Hoffman.  Mr. BLAINE HOFFMANN (Whiting): We’lldrill two miles down and then two miles out. BRADY: Hoffmann is a North Dakotanative, and he’s seen oil booms before. This one started in 2006. The number ofdrilling rigs in the state has steadily increased to more than 140. Each rigneeds a crew and plenty of supplies, which Hoffmann says helps North Dakota’seconomy Mr. RON NESS (President, North Dakota Petroleum Council): North Dakotawas ninth-largest oil-producing state in 2006. Today, we’re the fourth-largestoil-producing state, and we’re growing rapidly. BRADY: There’s plenty of newconstruction and some, like Betty Harstad, now get royalty payments. She hasone well on her farm outside town. Ms. HARSTAD: So for farmers it was a nicegift because farming isn’t all that economical. There’s, you know, a lot ofstress with it. So it relieved the stress of some of the farmers in the areathat were able to receive royalties.

"TheyOwe Us": Greens Incensed over Justice Dept. Brief Arguing that Suing Utilitiesfor Providing People Power Under "Nuisance" Statutes Isn’t Such a Great Idea. Greenwire (8/25, subs.req’d) reports, "The Obama administration has urged the Supreme Court to tossout an appeals court decision that would allow lawsuits against major emittersfor their contributions to global warming, stunning environmentalists who seethe case as a powerful prod on climate change. In the case, AEP v. Connecticut,the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a coalition of states,environmental groups and New York City. The decision, handed down last year,said they could proceed with a lawsuit that seeks to force several of thenation’s largest coal-fired utilities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.Matt Pawa, an attorney representing plaintiffs in the case, said he and hiscolleagues expected the White House to stay out of the matter. During a meetingwith more than 30 administration lawyers at the solicitor general’s office onJune 24, it seemed they had "a lot of friends in the room," he said."We feel stabbed in the back," Pawa said. "This was really adastardly move by an administration that said it was a friend of theenvironment. With friends like this, who needs enemies?" Professional reaxpurveyor Frank O’Donnell writes in (8/26) to Politico, "Some believe theObama White House, having failed to enact climate change legislation, hasadopted the old maxim when it comes to polluters: if you can’t beat ’em, join’em….I think they owe us a better explanation than the one given so far."

DayAfter Biden Calls Green Pork Stimulus the Greatest Accomplishment of His Tenure(Scary: He’s Right), AP Blows It Up with Big-Time Fact Check Rebuttal. Associated Press(8/25) reports, "The Obama administration claimed this week that $100 billioninvested in innovative technologies under the economic stimulus law is"transforming the American economy" by putting the nation on trackfor technological breakthroughs in health care, energy and transportation. Butan examination of details in the 50-page report unveiled Tuesday by VicePresident Joe Biden reveals something a bit different: a collection of rosyprojections that ignore many of the challenges, pitfalls and economic realitiesin all those areas. The claim: Thanks to the stimulus, the U.S. is on track to"doubling U.S. renewable energy generation capacity and U.S. renewablemanufacturing capacity by 2012." Robert L. Nelson, a partner at the AkinGump law firm who co-chairs its renewable energy group, said that themanufacturing claim reminded him of a story told in the old Soviet Union. Acommissar, or government official, asks a farmer how good next year’s crop willbe. The farmer says it will be 10 times as good as last year’s. The commissarthinks to himself, "Ten times zero is zero."

BigSolar, Mighty Wind Ramp Up Lobbying by 1,200 Percent over Last 10 Years – WhileActual Percentage of Energy Derived from Their Products Remained a RoundingError. OpenSecrets.org(8/26) posts: "By 2007, the alternative energy industry had begun todrastically increase its lobbying spending, almost doubling its expendituresfrom the previous year. In 2009, alternative energy organizations shelled outan unprecedented $30 million to protect and promote their interests on CapitolHill, and this year, it’s on pace to equal that record output. The alternativeenergy industry’s lobbying expenditures have grown to 12 times from its 1998level. In comparison, oil and gas spending and mining spending have grown lessthan three times their 1998 amount, and electric utility spending has grown tojust twice its 1998 amount. By 2009, there were about 200 alternative energycompanies and organizations employing lobbyists to help advance the industry’sinterests.  The American WindEnergy Association is one of those organizations that recently andsignificantly increased lobbying efforts. The recent involvement of AWEA infederal affairs, she said, "reflects the urgency of the industry’s numberone priority — passing a national renewable electricity standard withaggressive, binding near- and long-term targets, as part of comprehensiveenergy and climate legislation." Azua de Real cites "marketcertainty" as a concern of AWEA’s members, who need legislative support oftheir industry "in order to expand their operations and invest in newmanufacturing as well as new wind farm facilities."

ProtractedEconomic Downturn Great News for Folks Who Care About Slashing Energy Use – US Continuesto Use Less and Less and Economy Grows Worse and Worse. ChristianScience Monitor (8/25) reports, "The United States used significantly lesscoal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power,according to energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore NationalLaboratory (LLNL), a government national security laboratory in Livermore,Calif. There also was a decline in natural gas use and increases in use ofalternative energy sources, including solar, hydrothermal and geothermal power,the researchers say. However, the consumption dip doesn’t necessarily reflect asea change in the way Americans think about and use energy, or a shift to more"green" behavior. Rather, the decrease is due, in part, to thecurrent economic downturn as well as advances in technology. "Energy usetends to follow the level of economic activity, and that level declined lastyear," said A.J. Simon, an energy systems analyst for LLNL. "At thesame time, higher efficiency appliances and vehicles reduced energy use evenfurther." "As a result, people and businesses are using less energy ingeneral," Simon added. "The reduction in the use of natural gas, coaland petroleum is commensurate with a reduction in carbon emissions," Simonsaid. "Simply said, people are doing less stuff. Therefore, they’reburning less fuel."

AllIn a Day’s Work: Guy Who Makes His Living Fracking Wells in Northern PA Savesan Old Woman from a Burning House in Southern NY. ElmiraStar-Gazette (8/23) reports, "A gas industry worker who recently moved toWellsburg from Oklahoma got an unusual opportunity on his birthday Monday: thechance to save a life. Billy Watts, who turned 37 Monday, was driving home onSouth Broadway from Troy at about 6 p.m. when he saw black smoke in the air.Watts, a hydrofracturing operator for Cudd Energy Services in Pennsylvania,pulled over and helped a volunteer firefighter at the scene before any firetrucks arrived. The pair went down the hill toward the burning home at 2726South Broadway and saw a woman who looked to be in her 70s, Watts said."As we got there she was in the back yard by the fence," Watts said."She was bent over the fence and couldn’t get out, couldn’t breathe."A dog was with her, he said. Watts and the firefighter helped the woman and dogget away from the house. Watts said he breathed in some smoke and feltcongested from it, but otherwise he was fine. "It’s important for peopleto stop and try to help out," Watts said, noting that other bystanderscame by. Some helped carry the woman up the hill from her home; another triedto call the fire department, he said.

CAAssembly Loves Passing Outrageous Energy Mandates – Like the One Targeting HDTVs; But Then It Comes Time to Implement Them, and They Run Like Rats. AssociatedPress (8/25) reports, "The nation’s first energy-efficiency standards fortelevisions would be delayed by six months if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signsa bill approved by the California Senate. The bill sent to his desk Wednesdaywould push the regulations adopted last year by the California EnergyCommission back to July 2011. Republican Sen. Bob Huff of Diamond Bar says thatwould give the Federal Trade Commission time to develop its own nationwideenergy efficiency labeling rule for televisions. His bill lets California’srules take effect only if the federal commission fails to act by next July.State regulators had hoped to lead the nation in setting new standards. Therewas no spoken opposition to the bill, SB1198. It passed on a 26-9 vote.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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