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Republicans push to drill in Alaska, limit CO2 regulation
Not yet a year after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, Republicans are renewing efforts to drill for oil and gas in a fiercely contested Alaskan wildlife refuge. Moving one day after President Barack Obama’s unveiled a plan to cut U.S. oil imports by a third over 10 years, Republicans will unveil a…
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More drilling permits for Gulf in the works
The door could now be open for a “significant” number of new offshore drilling permits, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Wednesday, as the administration comes under increased pressure to tackle surging world oil prices. The Interior department on Monday issued a permit for a deepwater well co-owned by Noble Energy Inc and BP, the…
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BP workers could have prevented rig accident
BP had workers on the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig who could have prevented the missteps that led to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but they were not consulted, the White House oil spill commission said on Thursday. In an expanded report on the causes of the BP drilling disaster that killed 11 workers…
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U.S. to ease requirements on some deepwater projects
The Obama administration on Monday eased new environmental barriers to some oil and gas deepwater projects, but companies will still have to meet stringent regulations before drilling resumes. Oil companies and Republican lawmakers have complained that regulations imposed after the BP oil spill have brought Gulf of Mexico drilling to a standstill. The department’s decision…
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U.S. court rules Texas cannot delay EPA – mandated greenhouse gas rules
A federal court on Wednesday blocked an attempt by Texas to delay the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to impose carbon regulations in the state early next year. The state of Texas is suing the EPA to prevent the agency from forcing it to issue greenhouse gas permits for the biggest polluters when national carbon rules…
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EPA postpones smog rule again
The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday it was again delaying its final rule on smog limits, with the rule now expected by the end of July 2011. This is the third time the agency has delayed the smog standards, originally slated to be finalized in August. The initial standards proposed near the start of…
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New report highlights key reasons for BP well disaster
Lacking standards to weigh costs against safety, BP and its partners made critical errors leading to the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, according to a scientific panel report obtained by Reuters on Tuesday. Interim findings from the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council attribute the massive spill to workers’ decisions…
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EPA defends planned rules over power concerns
The Obama administration is defending its plans to crack down on industrial pollution after a report from a utility group found proposed regulations may result in tighter U.S. power supplies. The North American Electric Reliability Corp released a study on Tuesday that found four possible Environmental Protection Agency rules could “accelerate the retirement of a…