Liberal

Defeat is in sight for a six-year crusade to keep “fracked” natural gas out of New Brunswick as a Canadian fortress of environmental purity, according to a provincial inquiry.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has filed an administrative complaint seeking $112,500 in fines — the maximum amount allowed by law — against U.S. Energy Development Corp. for water quality violations that allegedly occurred during drilling activities in Pennsylvania and affected Yeager Brook in Cattaraugus County, NY.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), a strong proponent of ending liberal royalty relief for producers, assailed the Bush administration Wednesday for not being tough enough with producers to resolve the debacle over royalty-free deepwater oil and natural gas leases.

The seemingly solid agreement among a mix of liberal/moderate Democrats and conservative/moderate Republicans on the newly configured five-member appointed California Public Utilities Commission last Thursday was jarred loose and split into a majority of market-based-solution advocates and a minority of command-and-control supporters over the creation of a telecommunications “Consumer Bill of Rights.” The measure was six years in the making and has gone through several iterations in the past 18 months.

Sonat lifted Monday a Type 6 OFO that had been implemented Saturday.

Sonat lifted Monday a Type 6 OFO that had been implemented Saturday.

While ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the Liberal government in Ottawa irritated Canadian natural gas producers, a quieter decision on another environmental front prevented a comparable annoyance from spreading. Environment Canada ruled that there is nothing special about the Deep Panuke gas development project that requires extra scrutiny even though it taps sour gas offshore of Nova Scotia.

While ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the Liberal government in Ottawa irritated Canadian natural gas producers, a quieter decision on another environmental front prevented a comparable annoyance from spreading. Environment Canada ruled that there is nothing special about the Deep Panuke gas development project that requires extra scrutiny even though it taps sour gas offshore of Nova Scotia.

The Yukon Territory’s new Liberal government has stepped forwardto go to bat for a revival of the dormant Alaska Natural GasTransportation System (ANGTS) as its enthusiastic choice for anorthern pipeline project.