Drilling Ban Proposals Divide Democrats
In the southeast corner of New Mexico, new houses, hotels and jobs are sprouting like flowers in the desert. Trucks hauling equipment and laborers jam once-barren highways on the way to thousands of oil rigs.The Democrats who control the state's government have lofty plans for the billions of dollars in projected tax revenues from the drilling industry in the Permian Basin, the world’s biggest oil field, starting with an overhaul of New Mexico's ailing public education system. The biggest threat to those plans, however, may be the…
Offshore Wind & Politics: Bernie Sanders
Offshore wind is hot, and so too is the race to win the Democratic presidential candidate nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election. In its October 2019 edition of Marine Technology Reporter, government reporter Tom Ewing takes a closer look at each of the Dem candidates to give insight and overview on their policies and their potential impact on the offshore wind industry.Ten candidates in ten days: Today we take a closer look at Bernie Sanders:Opening statement:“The climate crisis is not only the single greatest challenge facing our country…
Sanders Among Senators Asking Obama to Order Dakota Pipeline Review
Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and four other senators on Thursday called on President Barack Obama to order a comprehensive environmental review of a pipeline project that has stirred widespread opposition from Native Americans and environmental activists. After a U.S. appeals court on Sunday night denied a request to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the senators asked Obama to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a full environmental impact statement for a contested part of the route that includes stronger tribal consultation.
Congress Urged to Reject TPP over Environmental Concerns
More than 450 groups on Monday called on Congress to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) if it comes up for a vote this fall, saying the trade deal would allow fossil fuel companies to contest U.S. environmental rules in extrajudicial tribunals. The groups, most of them environmental organizations, warned that companies could challenge U.S. environmental standards in tribunals outside the domestic legal system under provisions of the 12-nation TPP and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with Europe. Congress is expected to vote on the TPP after the Nov. 8 election during a lame-duck session.
Trump Says Would Approve Keystone XL Pipeline if Elected
Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would approve TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline proposal if elected, reversing a decision by the administration of President Barack Obama to block it over environmental concerns. "I would absolutely approve it, 100 percent, but I would want a better deal," Trump told reporters at a press conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was scheduled to give a speech to an oil conference on the energy policies he would pursue if elected to the White House. "I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits," Trump said.
Oil Price War Threatens US Sense of Energy Security
The political economy of oil prices in the United States is complicated. The United States is the world's largest oil consumer and one of its biggest importers. But it is also a substantial producer with large oil and gas resources. And its oil is medium-cost, more expensive to produce than the large fields in the Middle East but cheaper than frontier areas like the Arctic. U.S. politicians tend to be happiest with mid-priced oil: not too expensive to upset motorists but not too cheap to threaten the survival of domestic production and increase dependence on imports.
Clinton Opposes Keystone Pipeline
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has long avoided a firm position on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, broke her silence on Tuesday and said she opposed it. "I have a responsibility to you and other voters," Clinton, a former secretary of state, said at a town hall event in Iowa about TransCanada Corp's project to bring Canadian oil to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico via Nebraska. A decision on Keystone that has been pending for seven years is important as it has become "a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change," she said. "Therefore, I oppose it," she said.
US Senator Introduces Bill to Stop Arctic Drilling
A piece of legislation aiming to stop offshore Arctic drilling was introduced last week by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. The legislation, entitled Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act of 2015, would prevent new or renewed leases for the exploration, development or production of oil, natural gas or any other mineral in the Arctic planning area. "A spill in the Arctic would be an environmental catastrophe of extraordinary proportions – and such a spill is inevitable if drilling proceeds," Merkley said. "The ecosystem in the Arctic is too fragile and the ability to respond to a spill in this region is nonexistent.
U.S. Senators Urge Obama to Block Arctic Oil Drilling
A group of 18 mostly Democratic U.S. senators on Friday urged the Obama administration to stop Royal Dutch Shell's preparations for oil exploration in the Arctic, saying the region has a severely limited capacity to respond to accidents. The senators, from both coasts and several Midwestern states, sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, urging her to retire Arctic leases in the Chukchi Sea. Jewell's department earlier this month conditionally approved Shell's exploration plan in the Arctic. The move means the company is likely to return to the Chukchi Sea this summer for the first time since a mishap-filled drilling season in 2012.
