Showing posts with label HeadFake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HeadFake. Show all posts

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Parsing Politicians' Pablum -- "All-The-Above-Energy" Solutions

I guess the "all-the-above-energy" solution talk was to be taken in a literal sense: "above ground" energy -- wind, solar, nuclear, and hydroelectric, but NOT fossil fuel ("below ground"):
The Obama administration’s stated all-of-the-above energy strategy favors alternative and renewable sources and discourages fossil fuels, a US House committee chairman charged.
“It’s actually simple: Any energy made above ground counts. Any made underground doesn’t,” Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa (R-Calif.) said as the committee began a May 31 hearing on the administration’s energy strategy.

“An all-of-the-above energy strategy can’t succeed on its own,” he maintained. “We need to have an all-of-the-below strategy too.”
I can't make this stuff up. 

Thursday, May 24, 2012

North Dakota -- An Energy Juggernaut -- American Petroleum Institute -- Federal Leases "Head Fake"

Link to PennEnergy.
Energy production on state and private lands in North Dakota and elsewhere is leading the energy and economic boom across the country, according to API. But oil and natural gas leasing and permitting is down on federal lands onshore as well as offshore. The number of new federal oil and natural gas leases in the western states was down 44 percent in 2009/2010 compared to the previous two year period. The same trends have developed for drilling permits and the number of new wells drilled on federal land. 
Repeat: The number of new federal oil and natural gas leases in the western states was down 44 percent in 2009/2010 compared to the previous two year period.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Yes, Let's Duplicate Fracking Regulations!

White House aide says outreach to domestic oil and gas industry is not a "head fake." If so:
One of the biggest is whether federal fracing regulations, such as the ones the US Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management proposed on May 4, are even necessary when many producing states already regulate operations aggressively, Gerard told reporters after the meeting.

“The first thing the president’s interagency taskforce should have done, once it was formed, was to sit down and review all of the agency and departmental proposals to regulate fracing and toss out the ones which are unnecessary and irrelevant,” he suggested.

Zichal maintained that the administration recognizes that states are the most effective fracing regulators, and is trying only to produce federal regulations which complement what they’re already doing. “There’s a lot of terrific work happening at the state level, and we’re willing to provide technical support where it’s needed,” she said.
MAD Magazine used to have a section called, "when they say, they really mean." What the administrator really means, "Yes, we know the states are doing a lot of terrific work. In fact, their work is so good, there is a real risk that it will derail the administration's efforts to kill the fossil fuel industry. By duplicating regulations at the federal level, we can double the time needed to get anything done."

North Dakota does not need any technical support, thank you.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

HEAD FAKE: The President Supports Fossil Fuels

Updates


May 22, 2012: White House aide says outreach to domestic oil and gas industry is not a "head fake." If so:
One of the biggest is whether federal fracing regulations, such as the ones the US Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management proposed on May 4, are even necessary when many producing states already regulate operations aggressively, Gerard told reporters after the meeting.

“The first thing the president’s interagency taskforce should have done, once it was formed, was to sit down and review all of the agency and departmental proposals to regulate fracing and toss out the ones which are unnecessary and irrelevant,” he suggested.

Zichal maintained that the administration recognizes that states are the most effective fracing regulators, and is trying only to produce federal regulations which complement what they’re already doing. “There’s a lot of terrific work happening at the state level, and we’re willing to provide technical support where it’s needed,” she said.
North Dakota does not need any technical support, thank you.
May 16, 2012: the map says it all!


Original Post
Link here to PennEnergy.
After committing early on in his term to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, President Barack Obama has steadily increased his support for increased natural gas exploration and production, according to Bloomberg.
Several recent decisions, however, have illustrated the growing role of natural gas in the administration's approach. Among them, White House officials downplayed the results of an Environmental Protection Agency report faulting fracking for water contamination in Wyoming.

More recently, President Obama met with several members of the natural gas industry at the White House to discuss policies for encouraging greater use of the fossil fuel.

"It took a while for the administration to realize the role it could play," Michael Walls, vice president of the American Chemistry Council, told Bloomberg. "What we’ve seen is an evolution in thinking." [There is that word again.]
According to the LA Times, the Obama Administration has approved 3,675 new natural gas wells in Utah.
The Obama administration has approved a new natural gas drilling project in Utah that is designed to support more than 4,000 jobs and boost the production of energy -- while protecting the environment. All are political issues in the current presidential election year.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the approval on Tuesday [week of May 8, 2012] during an appearance outside Salt Lake City. Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will be allowed to develop up to 3,675 natural gas wells in the next decade in Uintah County, about 170 miles southeast of Salt Lake City near the Colorado border.
3,765. Wow. That's almost twice the number of wells that will be drilled in North Dakota this year.

Quite an evolution in thinking. Nothing like an election to get a president focused.

Natural gas, coal, wind, solar, nuclear, biofuels, algae.

Maybe we will soon get a chance to see if the Wyoming pipeline czar got the memo from the president.