The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted out two nominations for high-ranking appointments to the Department of Interior and the Department of Energy (DOE), clearing Michael L. Connor, currently commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, to be the Deputy Secretary of Interior, succeeding David Hayes. Prior to becoming commissioner in 2009, Connor served as counsel to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he managed legislation for the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Geological Survey.The committee also favorably reported the nomination of Elizabeth M. Robinson to be the undersecretary of energy, filling one of the top positions under Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Prior to coming to DOE, Robinson was CFO at NASA, and a White House budget officer. The nominations aren’t likely to be voted on by the full Senate until Congress ends the stalemate over the federal government shutdown and the debt ceiling crisis.

The board of directors of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) electedDavid J. Devine, president of central regional natural gas pipelines for Kinder Morgan, as chairman. Devine, who was elected second vice chair in 2012, follows C. Gregory Harper as INGAA chairman. The board also elected Ron Tanski, CEO of National Fuel Gas Co., as first vice chairman, and Jimmy Staton, vice president of NiSource and group CEO of Columbia Pipeline Group, as second vice chair. INGAA officers are elected for one-year terms.