** The U.S. State Department on Tuesday indicated that it would reimpose sanctions on Venezuelan oil without further election reforms. ** California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is committing to the removal or circumvention of several long-disputed dams in a bid to revive the state’s salmon. ** The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will compensate local and state …
Category: EPA
Energy quick reads
** The Biden administration has published a new rule for some gas and electric stoves to be more efficient — but these rules are significantly weaker than what was initially proposed reports The Hill. The Energy Department said in a press release that 97 percent of gas stoves and 77 percent of electric stoveson the market already meet …
Energy quick reads
** California’s rooftop solar industry is rapidly shedding jobs and losing companies to bankruptcy due to policy changes. The California Solar and Storage Association has suggested some near-term policy changes to slow the bleeding. ** A wide range of Republicans, including former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, excoriated President Biden for his decision to pause proposed liquefied natural …
Energy quick reads
** A large coalition of more than 30 fossil fuel industry associations is raising the alarm over an expected White House decision to delay permitting for key natural gas export facilities over their potential climate impacts. ** Multinational energy developer Orsted unexpectedly withdrew from agreements with the State of Maryland to develop two offshore wind projects, citing worsening economic …
Sen. Mullin attacks EPA’s chuminess with anti-plastics activists
Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin used a Senate committee hearing this week to be critical of the Biden administration’s friendliness with anti-plastic activists in deciding the implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act. It came as he questioned Dr. Feedhoff, who is the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention …
Nearly two dozen energy bills to be considered by coming session of the State Legislature
Energy and energy-related topics won’t be in short supply when the Oklahoma legislature goes into the 2024 session in a few weeks. A cursory review of the 1,463 bills filed for the approaching Second Session of the 59th Legislature showed nearly two dozen energy bills. Some of those we’ve been able to identify include: …
Lucas committee finds Biden administration used inappropriate influence in environmental contracts
An investigation By Congressman Frank Lucas’s House Science and Space and Technology Committee found evidence of inappropriate influence in the Biden Administration’s Contracting Rulemaking. The White House chose two environmentalist groups with significant ties to Democratic donors to do work over dislosure of greenhouse gas emissions and setting emisson reduction targets. They were …
Energy quick reads
** Sunoco LP and NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) (“NuStar”) announced that the parties have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Sunoco will acquire NuStar in an all-equity transaction valued at approximately $7.3 billion, including assumed debt. ** A major U.S. energy developer, Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, has initiated the process of shuttering two major coal-fired power …
Energy quick reads
** Environmentalists are urging the White House to use an obscure legal tool to thwart TC Energy Corp.’s planned expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest that they say would stoke climate change. ** Freezing temperatures sweeping the US shut in more than half of North Dakota’s oil production and curbed refinery …
Energy quick reads
** Oil and gas company Talos Energy said on Monday it will acquire privately held QuarterNorth Energy in a $1.29 billion cash and stock deal to bolster its presence in Mexico. ** A Massachusetts wind project, which recently became the first utility-scale offshore wind project to deliver electricity to the grid, wouldn’t have been financially viable if …