Leader

Colorado Republican Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, who has indicated his plans to run for governor in 2010, and fellow Republican state Rep. Cory Gardner have asked the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to extend the allowed time to hold a natural gas and oil drilling permit to provide “long-term certainty” for companies willing to invest in the state.

President Obama has tapped Robert Abbey, a veteran public land policy leader, to be the next director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Abbey has more than 32 years in public service, working with state and federal land management agencies before retiring from the federal government in July 2005. He was the Nevada state director for the BLM for eight years. Abbey’s nomination requires Senate confirmation.

Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have made “breakthroughs this week” on climate change legislation, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Wednesday.

A major natural gas pipeline group last Monday called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to help “remedy” the conflict between federal and state regulators involved in the permitting of interstate gas pipeline projects as part of legislation that addresses electric transmission siting.

A major natural gas pipeline group Monday called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to help “remedy” the conflict between federal and state regulators involved in the permitting of interstate gas pipeline projects as part of legislation that addresses electric transmission siting.

President Obama Friday tapped Commissioner Jon Wellinghoff, a favorite of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), as acting chairman of the five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Earlier in the president’s first week in office Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu were sworn in at the White House as secretaries of the departments of Interior and Energy, respectively.

President Obama Friday tapped Commissioner Jon Wellinghoff, a favorite of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), as acting chairman of the five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated he will move forward with an energy bill (HR 6) that includes a slightly larger tax package ($21.8 billion), ignoring threats of a counterattack by Republicans and a possible veto by President Bush.

The domestic petroleum industry is in a sustainable recovery, but it remains challenged in regenerating its workforce at all levels and reestablishing itself as a world leader in research and development (R&D), the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) reported last week.