Obama

Stymied, for now, in attempts to further regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the utility level, the Obama administration Thursday announced plans — in collaboration with Canada — to target methane emissions from existing oil and natural gas production/transmission facilities.

Industry experts say a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily block implementation of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) — now one of the last actions by the high court to include conservative Justice Antonin Scalia — remains in effect. A final decision on the law could be delayed until well after President Obama leaves office.

In his final State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama touted America’s success in developing renewables like wind and solar but, unlike previous speeches, omitted any reference to the role of natural gas in securing the nation’s energy future.

In his final State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama touted America’s success in developing renewables like wind and solar but, unlike previous speeches, omitted any reference to the role of natural gas or unconventional drilling in securing the nation’s energy future.

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, along mostly partisan lines, joined their Senate colleagues on Wednesday in passing a resolution disapproving of the Obama administration’s plan to rewrite the controversial Clean Water Rule (CWR).

As President Obama attends an international summit on climate change in Paris, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) accused the president of ignoring “America’s oil and natural gas renaissance,” and said he should do more to promote hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and natural gas development around the world.

Seeking to build on the momentum from the Obama administration’s decision to oppose the Keystone XL oil pipeline, environmental groups on Monday sought to intervene and cancel an oil and gas lease sale in Colorado scheduled for Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

TransCanada Corp.’s big, controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline project, which has inspired endless political and environmental debate, was rejected Friday by the Obama administration. The U.S. State Department decided the seven-year, multi-billion-dollar proposal was not in the U.S. national interest.

The Obama administration has officially threatened to veto a bill expected to pass the House of Representatives on Friday that would lift a ban on most domestically produced crude oil exports, but such a move could be tricky if the bill wins more Democratic support.