January 18, 2011 

The divide that separates the energy producers from those of the environmental movement won't be bridged anytime soon. The latest flare-up pertains to Shell Oil Co. and is off the shores of Alaska and near the Arctic slope - long a symbol in the debate over whether to allow more drilling rights.

With the Obama administration focused on economic health and investment in clean technology, drilling in the Arctic has gotten the cold shoulder. It has become even truer in the aftermath of the BP oil spill. At a time of divided government, though, the area might become a place for compromise. But don't bet on it.

January 05, 2011

Coal's future is directly correlated to the development of new technologies that scrub it of all harmful emissions as well as those that would capture and bury carbon emissions. That's what a broad task force has concluded.

The findings, spearheaded by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, say that carbon capture and sequestration is possible within a decade. That, in turn, will help coal maintain relevance. The tools to allow for such advancement, however, will remain elusive unless federal lawmakers act to price carbon emissions and commit to 5 demonstration projects in the coming years.

December 21, 2010

New York's governor has signed an executive order stopping the process by which natural gas developers drill for shale until the state completes a study. What then does that portend for "hydraulic fracturing" and the shale gas industry?

Fracking - as it is called - is now controversial because of its alleged effects on drinking water supplies. Industry says that the process is safe, although both national and state regulators want to take a closer look. While New York has taken the most pronounced step, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has also begun an intensive investigation into the matter.

November 10, 2010

The national electorate has spoken. So, too, have the people of California. They overwhelmingly rejected the efforts to sideline the state's global warming law in which critical new details are to be unveiled soon.

Nationally the message is one of reduced spending and limited government. But Californians are saying that such concerns do not contradict those of a healthier environment. In fact, the efforts led by two Texas-based oil companies to postpone greenhouse gas reductions there is turning out to be a colossal PR blunder and one that the greenies are trying to turn into a national mandate for environmental change.

November 09, 2010

The Environmental Protection Agency has a big choice to make: to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste or to continue to oversee it as a solid waste with some added enforcement. Public comments end this month with a decision expected in December.

While the Obama administration would probably prefer the stricter guidelines, it is unlikely to expend the necessary political capital. With the Republicans now in charge of the House of Representatives, the president's team will extend an olive branch and instead choose to make more incremental changes -- to toughen disposal standards and to let the states maintain their leadership role.