Health

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Friday submitted its greenhouse gas (GHG) endangerment finding — that GHG emissions contribute to air pollution and may endanger public health — to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review, an agency spokeswoman said.

If you missed the last bandwagon, stick around; there will be another one coming along soon. Not to be outdone by health care reform friends and foes, energy companies and environmentalists are going on the road with the aim of staging as many rallies as possible in Congressional home districts during the August recess, aiming to influence votes in September. It’s the populist revolution and everyone’s in the game.

If you missed the last bandwagon, stick around; there will be another one coming along soon. Not to be outdone by health care reform friends and foes, energy companies and environmentalists are going on the road with the aim of staging as many rallies as possible in Congressional home districts during the August recess, aiming to influence votes in September. It’s the populist revolution and everyone’s in the game.

In times of economic health and strong commodity prices, the returns of regulated assets can be something of a bore. These days, though, they’re at least one thing to smile about. Such is the case at National Fuel Gas Co. where a charge for a ceiling test writedown on producing properties slashed profits, but utility and pipeline results improved during the first quarter of the company’s fiscal 2009.

The Colorado Senate last Wednesday approved legislation that calls for a greater number of nonindustry members to sit on a commission that regulates the state’s oil and natural gas operations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release Tuesday of $79.9 million in energy assistance funds for 14 states as part of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program, which helps eligible families in certain states pay for heating in the fall and winter months. The funds are targeted to states in which low-income households make greatest use of fuel oil to heat their homes.

Signaling its full return to financial health almost two years after its utility emerged from Chapter 11, PG&E Corp. is eyeing a natural gas pipeline project in conjunction with a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal along the Oregon coast. It would mark the return of the San Francisco-based utility holding company to a region it historically played a key role in as the operator of a major interstate gas pipeline from Alberta to northern California under its now disbanded National Energy Group (NEG).

Citing a new report that it commissioned, the New England Council, which represents businesses, academic institutions and health organizations throughout New England, issued a warning on Wednesday that the region could face severe economic consequences without rapid construction of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals.

After endless complaints about the capacity problems on El Paso Natural Gas, FERC last Wednesday approved an uncontested settlement of the Order 637 issues on the pipeline, putting an end to the “very significant reliability concerns” and contract issues that wracked the system a few years ago.