Debate

Serious debate on the Senate climate change bill (S 1733) is expected to begin this week, as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold three hearings on Chairman Barbara Boxer’s “mark” that was issued Friday. The mark is an updated version of the climate change bill that Boxer and Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced in late September (see Daily GPI, Oct. 1).

California has become an afterthought in the now low-key debate about a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal on the West Coast of the United States. Twice over the past 40 years of global LNG trade, California has been a focal point for U.S. western imports, and twice high expectations have crashed amid harsh local and state permitting requirements.

As Congress begins debate on energy issues, such as access to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and the repeal of tax breaks, the American Petroleum Institute (API) Thursday told lawmakers that any legislative action detrimental to oil and gas would take a significant toll on an already faltering economy.

California has become an afterthought in the now low-key debate about a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal on the West Coast of the United States. Twice over the past 40 years of global LNG trade, California has been a focal point for U.S. western imports, and twice high expectations have crashed amid harsh local and state permitting requirements.

While the cause of Wednesday’s rally in natural gas futures remains up for debate, the reality is that the June contract erased Tuesday’s 11-cent drop by climbing most of the day to close at $3.887, up 27.2 cents from Tuesday’s finish. The talk among traders on the day was that the upward price action was caused by fund buying, a rupture on Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line, Jim Cramer’s bullish prognosis, or some mixture of the three.

The marathon hearings by the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week were the “opening round” of serious debate on climate change legislation, with Democrats saying that their bill would create jobs and have minimal adverse impact on energy prices, while Republicans argued otherwise. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) plans to begin marking up the bill this week so that it can be sent to the House floor by the Memorial Day recess. Despite the accelerated pace, some say it’s unlikely that Congress will pass climate change this year.

President Obama last Monday signed into law an omnibus lands bill that cleared Congress following a contentious and protracted debate and some procedural sleight of hand. The bill (HR 146) sets aside two million acres in nine western states as protected wilderness, closing off further access for oil and natural gas development on public lands.

A leading western business group has expressed “grave concerns” about the way the House Democratic leadership may handle the debate on the $10-12 billion omnibus lands package, which would take millions of acres of public lands off the table for potential oil and natural gas development.

A leading western business group has expressed “grave concerns” with the way the House Democratic leadership may handle the debate on the $10-12 billion omnibus lands package, which would take millions of acres of public lands off the table for potential oil and natural gas development.