Author Archive

Behind New York’s fracking ban

US News and World Report: New York is set to become the second state in the nation to ban fracking. Hundreds of studies have linked the controversial oil and gas extraction process – and the chemicals leaked from fracking sites – to air and water contamination, as well as a host of health issues, from headaches and nosebleeds to asthma, neurological disorders and potential cancers. Energy companies and trade groups have vigorously criticized many of the studies. Yet Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in deciding to formalize the Empire...

White House presses forward on ‘methane strategy.’

US News and World Report: The Obama administration has redoubled its campaign to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. At a conference on Capitol Hill on Friday morning, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy talked up a new set of national carbon standards that she plans to formally unveil in June. Speaking at a gathering of the American Council on Renewable Energy, she reiterated earlier pledges that the rules -- which would mostly apply to existing coal-fired power plants -- would provide...

China’s coal use rivals rest of world combined – EIA report

US News and World Report: Since 2000, China has accounted for more than 80 percent of the global increase in coal use, according to the EIA. China alone uses almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined, a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration noted Tuesday, and will likely dominate the coal market in 2013 thanks to the nation's increasingly ravenous demand for energy. That bodes well for America's coal industry, experts say, which has languished in recent years as environmental regulations...