Ernest Moniz was tapped by President Barack Obama to become the next secretary of Energy. But questions are being raised about his independence from the oil and gas industry: From a dispatch by Democracy Now!: President Obama’s pick to become the nation’s next secretary of energy is drawing criticism for his deep ties to the…
Tag: Oil and Gas
The Clean Energy Security Trust
Last week, president Barack Obama put forth a proposal to create the Clean Energy Security Trust, to research renewable and domestically-produced energy sources. Per the president’s plan, $2 billion would be set side over 10 years that “will support research into a range of cost-effective technologies – like advanced vehicles that run on electricity, homegrown…
Gulf oil spill trial, Day 3
It’s day three of the trial against BP, Halliburton and Transocean to determine each company’s share of blame in the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill. Former BP CEO Tony Hayward appeared via a 2011 video deposition for a short time. Hayward, in the deposition, said he didn’t cut corners with the drilling operation.Hayward insisted that the…
Shell: No Arctic drilling this year
Royal Dutch Shell PLC won’t drill in the Arctic this year. Shell’s full statement is on their website. In the statement, company president Marvin Odum says: “We’ve made progress in Alaska, but this is a long-term program that we are pursuing in a safe and measured way. Our decision to pause in 2013 will give…
Sequestration and the environment/outdoors
We’ve written before about potential budget cuts to the National Park Service and what it might do to your favorite parks as a result of sequestration — or mandatory, across-the-board federal budget cuts on domestic and defense budgets unless federal lawmakers come to a deal by tomorrow Friday, March 1. Estimates coming out today indicate…
Gulf oil spill trial, Day 2
From the Associated Press dispatch on the second day of the trial against BP for the 2010 Gulf oil spill: “A ranking BP executive testified Tuesday that the London-based oil giant and its contractors share the responsibility for preventing blowouts like the one that killed 11 workers and spawned the nation’s worst offshore oil…
Gulf oil spill trial, Day 1
Here’s the Associated Press recap of the first day of the trial involving BP and the devastating Gulf oil spill of 2010 that killed 11 workers and released 172 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf over three months, making it the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Quick recap of today’s proceedings:…
EPA summary on hydro-fracturing roundtables
The Environmental Protection Agency today posted a summary of five technical roundtables held last year on the agency’s Hydraulic Fracturing Study and the practice’s effects on drinking water supplies. “Fracking” as its known, is highly controversial because of its negative effects on the environment. This is playing out across Pennsylvania where drilling of the Marcellus…
NPR-Alaska Plan
Today, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar released the final decision of an integrated activity plan for oil and gas leasing and conservation for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. You can read the 114-page report here. Background on the controversy around it and potential threats to wildlife here. The basics: 11.8 million acres will be available for…
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