Leaders

A broad coalition of industrial and agricultural natural gas users told House and Senate leaders last Monday that it would oppose any legislation that seeks to increase natural gas demand in the transportation and power sectors through the use of subsidies or mandates.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has asked Senate leaders to set aside legislation to raise his annual salary by $19,600 after a senator threatened to block it if the pace of “new” permitting in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) did not return to the pre-BP plc Macondo well disaster rate. Salazar fired off the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) after Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) vowed to block the request for the pay raise if the department did not resume issuance of “new” permits for GOM deepwater exploratory drilling at the same rate before the explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig. “It’s just my way of keeping the boot on the neck” of Interior, Vitter wrote in his letter to Salazar last Monday. Although the department has reissued a number of permits to resume activities that were interrupted as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident, it has issued only one “new” deepwater exploratory drilling permit since the moratorium was formally lifted in October. Salazar accused Vitter of “attempted coercion.” That position “is wrong, and it must be made perfectly clear that his attempt cannot and will not affect the execution of the solemn legal responsibility that the department undertakes on behalf of the American people,” Salazar said. The bill to raise Salazar’s salary was introduced by Reid earlier this month. His current salary is $180,000, The Hill reported.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has asked Senate leaders to set aside legislation to raise his annual salary by $19,600 after a senator threatened to block it if the pace of “new” permitting in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) did not return to the pre-BP plc Macondo well disaster rate.

A broad coalition of industrial and agricultural natural gas users told House and Senate leaders Monday that they oppose any legislation that seeks to increase natural gas demand in the transportation and power sectors through the use of subsidies or mandates.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, joined by leaders in the natural gas and chemical industries, announced last week the formation of the Marcellus to Manufacturing Task Force, intended to harness the business opportunities surrounding the development of the Marcellus Shale.

Government and business leaders blasted the Obama administration’s continuing de facto moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) after Seahawk Drilling Inc., a major GOM shallow water driller, filed for bankruptcy Feb. 11.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, joined by leaders in the natural gas and chemical industries, announced Tuesday the formation of the Marcellus to Manufacturing Task Force, intended to harness the business opportunities surrounding the development of the Marcellus Shale.

Government and business leaders blasted the Obama administration’s continuing de facto moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) after Seahawk Drilling Inc., a major GOM shallow water driller, filed for bankruptcy on Friday.

The natural gas industry needs to improve its image in Pennsylvania, and sitting down with elected officials and environmental leaders might be the best way to begin that process, according to former Gov. Tom Ridge, now a strategic adviser for the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC).