Lands

One day after a report by Harvard Law School researchers leveled withering criticism against FracFocus, the two organizations that jointly manage the oil and natural gas disclosure registry fired back for what they claim were misrepresentations of the site.

FracFocus has several design flaws that make it inadequate as a regulatory compliance tool, according to a study conducted by the Environmental Law Program at Harvard Law School.

House Republicans last Tuesday called for greater access to oil and natural gas resources on public lands, restrictions on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority over the energy industry and for Congress to revisit flawed financial reform regulations in the Dodd-Frank law.

House Republicans Tuesday called for greater access to oil and natural gas resources on public lands, restrictions on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority over the energy industry and for Congress to revisit flawed financial reform regulations in the Dodd-Frank Law.

A Pennsylvania official said royalties from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling on public lands will add about $60 million to state coffers this year.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said Tuesday it sold 13 of 16 available parcels in an oil and natural gas lease sale in the Green River District in east-central Utah.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has passed a bill that authorizes the state Department of General Services (DGS) to lease state-owned land for oil and natural gas drilling, as well as mining for coal, limestone and collecting coalbed methane.

While President Obama pledged to support domestic oil and natural gas development, he said he “will not let oil companies write this country’s energy plan.”

A proposal to place a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in California (AB 972) passed out of a state senate committee Tuesday and is headed for further consideration, but the bill faces stiff opposition by industry.