Alliance

America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) is launching a nationwide advertising campaign designed to get people thinking and talking about their energy choices, and to see natural gas as a “foundational fuel.” The ad campaign will be “very visible,” with television and online components, as well as personal outreach through ANGA customer groups, said spokesman Dan Whitten. It would be the first major public outreach since Martin J. Durbin was named president and CEO (see NGI, April 1). Durbin had been executive vice president of government affairs at the American Petroleum Institute, where he led advocacy efforts on behalf of the oil and gas industry. Former president and CEO Regina Hopper resigned in February under pressure from the board (see NGI, Feb. 11).

America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) plans to begin a nationwide advertising campaign Monday designed to get people thinking and talking about their energy choices, and to see natural gas as a “foundational fuel.”

An alliance of organizations that represent commodity-dependent industries, businesses and end-users has asked a federal court in Washington, DC, to reverse an earlier decision tossing out the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) controversial rule limiting excessive speculation in the multi-trillion swaps market.

An alliance of organizations that represents commodity-dependent industries, businesses and end-users has asked a federal court in Washington, DC, to reverse an earlier decision tossing out the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) controversial rule limiting excessive speculation in the multi-trillion swaps market.

The FracTracker Alliance and Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) are offering free training sessions across southeastern Pennsylvania for citizens who want to utilize the mapping capability of fractracker.org, a web-based tool for tracking and visualizing data related to shale gas extraction operations. The sessions “will show people how to find where drilling operations are located and learn more about them, according to MWA, which said the tool is already being used by citizen water monitoring volunteers and community advocates. Sessions are scheduled in Washington County Feb. 26, Butler County March 26, and Westmoreland County April 30, with more sessions planned through October. Information and registration is available by contacting Melissa Troutman (melissa@mtwatershed.com, (724) 455-4200 ext 6). The training sessions are sponsored by the Heinz Endowments (see Shale Daily, Sept. 2, 2011).

Regina Hopper, president and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), one of the top lobbying groups for natural gas in Washington, DC, has resigned effective Feb. 28 under pressure from the board. “The ANGA board was extremely disappointed with her performance,” and several senior staff members have recently left, a knowledgeable source told NGI. Hopper has been at the helm of ANGA, which represents leading producers, since 2009 (see NGI, March 2, 2009). ANGA Chairman and Apache Corp. CEO G. Steven Farris commended Hopper’s performance and said she had “led ANGA’s growth from its infancy into its becoming an important voice in the discussion around fuel diversity and economic growth for our nation. We are grateful for her service, for the strong organization she leaves behind, and we wish her much success in her future endeavors.” ANGA now is searching for a successor. “I was hired to build an effective and powerful advocacy organization with strong fiscal management,” Hopper said. “By all accounts we have achieved these important objectives.”

Regina Hopper, president and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), one of the top lobbying groups for natural gas in Washington, DC, resigned effective Feb. 28 under pressure from the board.

Four environmental groups have filed suit against the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) seeking to reduce the amount of drilling approved for Gasco Energy Inc. in Utah’s remote Uinta Basin shale formation.

Tom Hassenboehler, who has been vice president of policy development and legislative affairs at America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) since January 2011, is taking over as chief counsel for the Energy and Power Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over controversial energy and environmental issues. Hassenboehler previously worked on Capitol Hill for a decade as counsel for Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) on the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, and as counsel on the House Energy and Commerce panel. He also worked in the offices of former Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Bob Riley (R-AL). Hassenboehler will succeed Maryam Brown, whom House Speaker John Boehner tapped to be his top energy aide, according to sources. He has a bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from Louisiana State University.