Defense

Lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Armed Services voted 22-4 on Thursday to advance a $612 billion defense appropriations bill, but unlike their counterparts in the U.S. House of Representatives, the senators declined to add an amendment suspending action on an endangered species listing for the western plains sage grouse.

Long on the defense regarding the historic Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico three years ago, BP plc has gone on the offensive to recover some of the settlements it’s paid out for Gulf Coast businesses that may have been inflated or fictitious.

A coalition of conservation groups led by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has inked a settlement agreement with the Interior Department and the oil and natural gas industry that would restrict seismic testing in certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the next two and a half years to protect whales and dolphins from high-intensity airguns that are are used to find oil and gas deep underneath the ocean floor.

A coalition of conservation groups led by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has inked a settlement agreement with the Interior Department and the oil and natural gas industry that would restrict seismic testing in certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the next two and a half years to protect whales and dolphins from high-intensity airguns that are are used to find oil and gas deep underneath the ocean floor.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has allowed itself “to be co-opted by industry interests on the issue of hydraulic fracturing [fracking] for shale gas,” and does not speak for local communities on the issue, representatives of 67 grassroots organizations said Wednesday.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and West Virginia University have formed a partnership with eight companies/groups to study the fugitive emissions of methane associated with the routine operation of natural gas fleet vehicles fueled by compressed or liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) wants to hire a “state regulatory and legislative affairs manager” based in Washington, DC, who would to focus on natural gas. The manager would ” assist in organizing and managing efforts to enact a comprehensive set of regulations and reforms in key natural gas producing states,” with emphasis on the…

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) wants to hire a “state regulatory and legislative affairs manager” based in Washington, DC, who would to focus on natural gas. The manager would ” assist in organizing and managing efforts to enact a comprehensive set of regulations and reforms in key natural gas producing states,” with emphasis on the Appalachian region. The selected applicant would help “create and manage strategic coalitions and relationships with industry, regulators, policymakers, “grasstops” opinion leaders” and other nongovernmental organizations. Information is available at www.edf.org/jobs/state-regulatory-and-legislative-affairs-manager-natural-gas-program.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has agreed to allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conduct extensive tests at one of its drilling sites as part of the federal agency’s ongoing investigation into the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Range Resources Corp. also may allow EPA to work at one of its drilling sites.