Author's posts
A Flood of Subpoenaed Documents for House Committee Investigating WOTUS
An investigation by Rep. Steve Russell and others on the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has produced more than 30,000 pages of internal records into the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. Rule. “We stand for openness and transparency,” said Chairman Jason Chaffetz. “I think the American people have a right to see these …
Opposition Surfaces to Pipeline in Cleveland County
Opponents of a proposed pipeline from Cushing to Longview, Texas plan to voice their concerns at a Monday afternoon meeting of the Norman Floodplain Permit Committee. The developer is the same company responsible for the Santa Barbara, California pipeline spill that led to grand jury indictments on 46 criminal counts. It is opposition to the …
Not One Mining Engineer Employed by EPA
Ten months after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Gold King Mine Disaster, the US House Committee on Natural Resources has passed three bills adding what members called “systemic problems in mining development and reclamation.” One is the Mining Schools Enhancement Act which focuses on the steady reduction in mining and mineral engineering programs across the country. …
Captain Planet? It’s what One Newspaper Calls Oklahoma’s Secretary of Energy
Spreading the word about Oklahoma’s earthquakes and what might be causing them. it’s what Secretary of Energy and Environment Michael Teague is doing and recently spoke in Ardmore. “That’s not natural,” said Teague in an address at the Southern Oklahoma Leaders Luncheon in the Ardmore Convention center. He was referring to the fact that there …
Leaking Storage Ponds Prompt Judge to Allow Lawsuit by Environmentalists
A judge in Billings, Montana is allowing environmentalist to proceed with a lawsuit against operators of a coal-fired power plant that continues leaking contaminated water from storage ponds. District Judge Robert Deschamps made the ruling after learning that contaminated water was still leaking form the ponds of the Colstrip Power Plant four years after an …
Dallas Firm Gets Partners to Finance National Energy Effort
Dallas-based Discovery Midstream Holdings LLC says it is partnering with Old Ironsides Energy LLC of Boston to pursue midstream infrastructure acquisition and greenfield development opportunities across the U.S. It’s a long-standing relationship the two firms have. Five years ago, Discovery President Mike Davis partnered with the Old Ironsides team to construct the Wildcat Sabine Pipeline …
Governor Fallin Stops $250,000 Salary to New CEO at State’s Anti-Tobacco Group
The screeching of brakes you heard at the State Capitol are coming from the office of the governor in a flap over the high salary to be paid to a former energy regulator. If Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has anything to say about it, the $250,000 salary the State Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust wants to pay …
Inhofe to States—-Ignore the EPA’s Clean Energy Incentive Program
Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is advising states not to take part in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Supreme Court suspended Clean Power Plan. The chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said they should ignore the EPA’s latest announcement that it will take the next step in providing guidance for the Clean Energy …
Weather That Feels Like 120 Degree Heat
Whether you’re pumping or drilling for oil and gas in northwestern Oklahoma, cutting timber in the southeast or mining coal in the east, it’s hot and dangerous weather. Not so much because of the high temperatures but the effect of high humidity with those temperatures. As State Climatologist Gary McManus with the Oklahoma Mesonet pointed …
North Dakota Experiences Record Monthly Drop in Oil Production
North Dakota energy officials admit they were not surprised at the startling news this week that their state had suffered its largest monthly decline in oil production in state history. This despite its record production in the past few years because of the massive development of the Bakken play. “We were expecting a large production …
