3 item(s) were returned.
Last week President Obama signed an executive order to coordinate the Administration’s activities on natural gas development. The order will convene the Interagency Working Group to Support Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources, and will bring together at least 13 federal agencies. The working group will coordinate interagency policy, work to share scientific, environmental, technical and economic information, and engage in long term planning with regards to research, natural resource assessment, and the development of infrastructure. The order states that “States are the primary regulators of onshore oil and gas activities,” but that “the Federal Government… [more]
View InsightThree House bills that would greatly expand U.S. oil and gas development – H.R. 3407, H.R. 3408, and H.R. 3410 – were approved by the Natural Resources Committee on February 1, 2012. H.R. 3407 would open up vast areas of Alaska’s coastal plain to oil leasing. H.R. 3408 would expand shale oil development in several Western states. Many Democrats opposed the bill, arguing that the environmental, social, and geologic risks of shale oil development are not yet well understood. The committee voted down a Democratic amendment that would have required the USGS to study oil shale development impacts on water… [more]
View InsightLast Wednesday, the Obama administration officially denied approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. A rider included by the GOP in the payroll tax plan President Obama signed last month required the Administration to decide on the pipeline within a 60-day window. In rejecting the pipeline, the White House said “imposing an arbitrary 60-day deadline on this process would make it virtually impossible for an adequate review [of the pipeline] to take place.” House Speaker John Boehner criticized the decision saying “President Obama is destroying tens of thousands of American jobs and shipping American energy security to the Chinese. [There’s] no… [more]
View Insight