Future

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, also known as PennFuture, has filed a lawsuit against an Ultra Petroleum subsidiary, alleging that some of the company’s facilities in the Marcellus Shale violate the federal Clean Air Act and state regulations.

Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative (MITEI) say natural gas has a bright future, but they said the government needs to be more involved and industry needs to remain vigilant over potential — but so far unrealized — environmental disasters.

The Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Mark Brownstein held up an oil and gas company’s magazine advertisement touting “responsible” energy development. “The point is, I don’t really know if it’s true. In fact, no one really knows if it’s true,” said EDF’s energy program deputy director.

Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative (MITEI) said natural gas has a bright future, but they said the government needs to be more involved and industry needs to remain vigilant over potential — but so far unrealized — environmental disasters.

Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative (MITEI) say natural gas has a bright future, but they said the government needs to be more involved and industry needs to remain vigilant over potential — but so far unrealized — environmental disasters.

Michigan regulators on Wednesday announced a new series of regulations that will impact the future operations of oil and gas drillers using hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) to stimulate production.

Government and industry sources have grossly overstated future natural gas supplies in the United States, basing their estimates on unrealistic growth in supplies from shale gas plays, according to a report released Thursday by the San Francisco-based Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainability.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) is asking the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for information about how it enforces its environmental regulations.

General Electric views the future of energy globally as upbeat, citing several “positive trends in energy” in reporting a 58% hike in its operating earnings to $3.5 billion in the first quarter this year, compared to the same period in 2010. Both CEO Jeffrey Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin talked bullishly about GE’s various energy plays, particularly global turbine orders, during a conference call with financial analysts Thursday.