** The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has been racked by infighting for the past several weeks, with two of its Republican commissioners feuding with its Democratic chair, Arthur Traynor, in a bitter argument involving allegations of financial malfeasance by senior staffers and toxic workplace conduct reported POLITICO. ** Scott Yager is now environmental VP …
Category: EPA
Headlines of world and national energy stories
** A further decline in Russian oil supply is likely to spark a global recession, Bank of America said Friday. The bank warned oil prices could hit $150 a barrel, and an energy crisis could ensue, if supplies fall sharply. ** The American oil and gas supermajor, Chevron Corporation CVX, recently announced that it closed an agreement …
EPA all show and no go in search of methane emissions in the Permian?
After spending huge amounts of taxpayer money in 2019 and again in 2020 to detect methane gas emissions from wells in the Permian Basin, the Environmental Protection Agency still has not fined many of the violators. Instead, it reached settlement agreements with a few of the oil and gas companies. Click here for Capital …
Inhofe presses Biden nominee about EPA’s handling of small refinery operations
The President’s nominee to be a top EPA official faced some stiff questioning Wednesday by Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe about the administration’s energy efforts and how they affect the nation’s supply of aviation fuel. Joseph Goffman, Biden’s nominee to be Assistant Administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation at the EPA went …
US and World headlines of other energy stories
** The White House could suspend summertime blending rules applying to all grades of gasoline in an effort to combat high prices at the pump, reported Reuters. The rules, which help reduce smog in the hotter months, require refiners and blenders to avoid lower-cost butane during the summer, though the sources said a final decision has …
Headlines of other energy stories
** Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Don McEachin (D-Va.) are introducing a bill to eliminate 11 tax breaks for oil and gas companies, including for marginal wells and enhanced oil recovery, to fund a $500 direct cash rebate for consumers reeling from high prices. ** President Biden seems to praise high gas prices as ‘incredible transition’ Americans must go through. …
Other energy headlines
** President Biden announces Hyundai will spend $5.5 billion to build its first electric vehicle manufacturing plant in the U.S. near Savannah, Georgia. ** The U.S. Energy Department seeks an unprecedented expansion of high-voltage electricity lines to carry clean power by prioritizing shovel-ready projects and seeking state support for interregional connections. ** A Spanish energy company begins construction of a 300 MW …
Another EPA Biden nominee to face Inhofe and others this week
Another Biden administration nominee will go before Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and others this week who sit on a Senate committee. Joe Goffman, Biden’s selection to lead the Office of Air and Radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency will appear Wednesday during his confirmation hearing to be held by the Senate Environment and …
Energy headlines in US and the world
** U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia calls on the Biden administration to cut regulations to spur domestic energy production. ** Coal employment remains steady in Northern Appalachia, but grew nearly 14% in central Appalachia from the lows of 2020 amid high demand for steel-making coal. ** As much as 2.09 million barrels a day of gasoline, diesel and …
Appeals court rules against New Mexico ranchers over gold mine catastrophe
New Mexico farmers and ranchers who filed suit against a company that caused Colorado’s Gold King gold mine environmental disaster in 2015 lost their case this week with the federal appeals court in Denver, Colorado. The dozens who filed suit against Environmental Restoration, LLC, a firm hired by the EPA to do the excavation …
