Governments

Climate change, also known as global warming, poses significant challenges for the energy industry, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report out last Thursday. Everything from oil and gas exploration to all varieties of power generation to energy trading and risk management could see a shakeup as temperatures rise around the globe.

Outgoing Interior Secretary Gale Norton was expected to sign a memorandum Wednesday that could open the door for states and local governments to assert rights-of-way (ROW) claims to thousands of miles of roads on public lands in the West, a move that environmentalists claim could lead to development of wildlife refuges, public parks and federal lands.

California’s governor and its largest utility pitched in Wednesday to provide help in the recovery effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, and local governments quickly volunteered fire and public works personnel and equipment for the ravaged Gulf of Mexico coast in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. On Thursday the governor added assistance from the California National Guard.