Nonprofit

The nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) said that after an eight-year decline, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants jumped 7.1% in 1Q2013, due in part to rising natural gas prices and the lure of cheap coal.

ProPublica, a nonprofit corporation that pursues investigative journalism on matters of public interest, is criticizing former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and the New York Daily News for failing to disclose Rendell’s ties to natural gas-related businesses in a pro-industry editorial.

Natural gas from organic waste is being endorsed as an alternative transportation fuel by New York City-based nonprofit Energy Vision (EV) and California technology firm CALSTART.

Plaintiffs suing two municipalities in New York State for enacting bans on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) will soon have their day in court. Meanwhile, the city of Binghamton, which had its day in court — and lost — is considering an appeal.

The cash-strapped state park system in Colorado is considering using its nonprofit foundation to bring in more private-sector funds, which include allowing more oil and natural gas drilling in some of the state parks, such as the drilling currently taking place at one state park, St. Vrain, near Longmont, CO. A series of public meetings around the state has been set to kick off Thursday in Grand Junction and continue in Colorado Springs (July 24), Fort Collins (July 31) and Denver (Aug. 8). Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are considering corporate sponsorships and/or more oil and gas drilling in state parks to cope with budget cuts, according to reports this month in various news media around the state. Assistant Director Ken Brink told local news media that park visitors do not want state parks named after corporations, or more oil/gas drilling in the parks, but the officials say they may have no choice. There are 42 state parks in Colorado that now are forced to develop all of their revenues through user fees.

Using Colorado as its example, a Boulder, CO-based nonprofit law and conservation group, added its two cents to the growing list of advocate-sponsored studies of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), concluding there are definite impacts on water supplies and the communities they serve from the widespread use of the oil/gas drilling technology.

A nonprofit economic and public policy research firm is warning policymakers in Western Canada that shale gas development in British Columbia (BC) and oilsands development in northern Alberta are “stress points” that could negatively impact water quality and supplies if not properly regulated.

A nonprofit organization that conducts reviews of state oil and natural gas regulations has concluded that North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has experienced staff but is not adequately prepared to regulate oil and natural gas activities.

The nonprofit Institute for Energy Research (IER) said Thursday that oil and natural gas production on federal lands declined during the 2011 fiscal year (FY), citing data from the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI).