Two Timely Articles Regarding California; Other Energy Links

Active rigs: 184

RBN Energy asks if it is too expensive to build the Freedom Pipeline to carry crude oil from west Texas (the Permian Basin) to refineries in California.

And, to help answer that question, the federal government has removed four parcels of minerals in California (Fresno and Kern Counties; Monterey Shale) from its May 22, 2013, auction, citing lack of funds necessary to work the fracking issues that would be raised. The lack of funds is due to the federal sequester.

WSJ Links

Section D (Personal Journal):

• Walt Mossberg: two companies that restore the "Start" button to Windows 8.

• At 10 years of age, iTunes still has some tricks

Section C (Money & Investing):

• Battery-driven Tesla may run out of juice

Section B (Marketplace):

• Leaner airlines, meaner routes; restructuring has resulted in sharp reduction in traveler choice; curtailing some local economies

• Microsoft concedes Windows 8 misses expectations

• Yahoo wants out of Microsoft deal

Section A:

• Bee deaths put crops at risk: mounting toll on pollinating insects imperils over $20 billion a year in harvests