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Obama unveils climate change plan that goes around Congress
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on June 25th, 2013
The Hill: President Obama is launching fresh battles over climate change with plans to curb emissions using executive powers that sidestep Congress -- including controversial rules to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants.
The wide-ranging plan, which Obama will tout in a speech later Tuesday, also beefs up federal efforts to help deploy low-carbon and renewable energy, and has programs to help harden communities against climate-fueled extreme weather.
Internationally, it seeks to knock down...
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Keep climate change out of Keystone decision, GOP warns in letter to Obama
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on May 23rd, 2013
The Hill: Two dozen Senate Republicans are warning President Obama not to link “wholly unrelated” climate change policies to approval of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
“You should approve the Keystone XL pipeline project on its merits alone without suddenly moving the goalposts after more than four years of review by tethering its fate to wholly unrelated and economically disastrous new regulatory policies,” states the new letter to Obama led by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and John Hoeven...
Murkowski: Obama’s Energy Plan Dead Without Wider Drilling
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on April 19th, 2013
The Hill: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) warned the Obama administration Thursday that its proposal to steer federal oil-and-gas revenues into a green energy fund won’t fly unless it's paired with opening new areas to drilling.
President Obama is pushing Congress to create an “Energy Security Trust,” which would steer $2 billion in revenues from offshore development into technologies that wean cars and trucks off of oil.
Murkowski – the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee – said...
Senate Foreign Relations Chief Menendez Plans Keystone XL Hearing
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on March 8th, 2013
The Hill: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Thursday that he intends to hold a hearing on the State Department’s review of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
“I am sure that at some point we will,” Menendez told The Hill in the Capitol.
“We want to review their process, especially as they go into the next phase,” he said of the State Department’s review of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed pipeline.
The hearing would ensure an even greater spotlight on...
Canadian Official: Keystone Rejection Wouldn’t Harm US-Canada Relationship
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on March 7th, 2013
The Hill: Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver predicted Wednesday that the U.S. will approve the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, but added that rejection would not harm the relationship between the two allies.
“I am not anticipating a rejection,” he told reporters at a major energy conference here.
But he said the U.S.-Canada relationship is far too deep to be changed by the pipeline decision.
“We have the most important commercial bilateral relationship in the world, and certainly...
EU climate chief: Obama would send ‘strong signal’ by nixing Keystone
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on February 28th, 2013
The Hill: The European Union’s climate minister said Thursday that White House rejection of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline would be an “extremely strong signal” of the Obama administration’s second-term intent to confront global warming.
“If you had a U.S. administration that would avoid doing something that they could do, with the argument that in the time we are living in, with the climate change we are faced with, we should not do everything we can do, then I think it would be a very, very...
State of the Union: Executive Action Expected on Climate
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on February 12th, 2013
The Hill: President Obama is expected to launch a serious second-term push on climate change with his State of the Union address.
With climate legislation dead in Congress, green groups are hopeful that Obama will follow the “we must act” mantra of his inaugural address and put the full weight of his executive powers behind their agenda.
“We are hoping to see some more substance on exactly what the president’s plan will be like, be it on the clean-energy side or on the side of cleaning up the largest...
Sierra Club Chief ‘Confident’ that Kerry, Obama Will Scuttle Pipeline
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on February 6th, 2013
The Hill: Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune predicted victory Tuesday in activists’ battle against the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, calling President Obama’s vow to focus on climate change in his second inaugural speech a good omen. “We are confident that [new Secretary of State John] Kerry will advise the president and the president will decide to reject this pipeline because it is such a clear first test of the president’s commitment to actually fighting climate change and ... moving...
House GOP, Citing North African Turmoil, Boosts Keystone XL Pressure on Obama
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on January 30th, 2013
The Hill: A mostly Republican group of House lawmakers is putting fresh pressure on President Obama to greenlight the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, and a senior member said that another Capitol Hill hearing could be in the offing.
“In light of the recent events in North Africa, we need to be investing in energy infrastructure to control our own resources. We need to be able to move resources, not only from Canada, but from the many domestic shale plays that have recently come on line. We need to make...
Japanese Energy, Business Groups Urge U.S. Gas Export Approvals
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on January 28th, 2013
The Hill: Japanese utilities and business groups are pressing U.S. regulators to approve natural gas exports at a time when Japan’s idled nuclear production has boosted its need for other energy sources.
New letters to the Energy Department (DOE) urge approval of an array of pending applications to export liquefied natural gas to nations that do not have free-trade deals with the U.S. – including Japan.
“We, as Japanese utilities, are in significant need of secure sources of energy supply,” states a...