Climate

While California’s response to global climate change is a major focus, energy policymaking in the state centers on efficiency and demand response, according to the latest update of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) 2007 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR).

Natural gas use has to be part of any climate-friendly policy, but the industry so far has done a poor job of convincing a skeptical public that it can find, develop and deliver gas at a reasonable price without harming the environment, Questar Corp. CEO Keith O. Rattie said last week.

Natural gas use has to be part of any climate-friendly policy, but the industry so far has done a poor job of convincing a skeptical public that it can find, develop and deliver gas at a reasonable price without harming the environment, Questar Corp. CEO Keith O. Rattie said Tuesday.

The global debate about climate change is accelerating, and the odds of binding carbon dioxide (CO2) caps in the United States and elsewhere are rising, but the bullish fundamentals of the oil and natural gas industry will not be impacted anytime soon — in fact, more stringent regulations favor natural gas, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc. energy analysts.

The global debate about climate change is accelerating, and the odds of binding carbon dioxide (CO2) caps in the United States and elsewhere are rising, but the bullish fundamentals of the oil and natural gas industry will not be impacted anytime soon — in fact, more stringent regulations favor natural gas, said Raymond James & Associates Inc. energy analysts.

Energy efficiency, renewables and climate change will take center stage at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in this Congress. Also on the ticket will be energy research and development (R&D) funding and what to do about the oil and gas royalty losses that resulted from missing price caps in contracts with the Interior Department, said Bob Simon, staff director of the committee. Opening up more of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and gas drilling will be absent, he said.

Energy efficiency, renewables and climate change will take center stage at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in this Congress. Also on the ticket will be energy research and development (R&D) funding and what to do about the oil and gas royalty losses that resulted from missing price caps in contracts with the Interior Department, said Bob Simon, staff director of the committee. Opening up more of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and gas drilling will be absent, he said.

El Paso Corp. on Wednesday became the first natural gas company to announce it has joined the California Climate Action Registry, a group of organizations that publicly track and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Some mayors from various Texas cities have formed an ad hoc group, “Texas Cities for Climate Protection,” to provide input to the state’s Commission on Environmental Quality, which is individually reviewing 17 separate proposals for new coal-fired generation plants in the state. Arlington’s mayor held a formation meeting for the group earlier in the month at the University of Texas — Arlington, and subsequently Dallas Mayor Laura Miller sent a letter to all the mayors in the state urging their support.