Pitched

Exasperated with being at the center of a pitched debate over the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), elected officials in Dimock Township, PA, voted unanimously to decline an offer by the city of Binghamton, NY, about 30 miles away, to deliver potable water supplies to some of the town’s residents.

Exasperated with being at the center of a pitched debate over the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), elected officials in Dimock Township, PA, voted unanimously Monday evening to decline an offer by the city of Binghamton, NY about 30 miles away, to deliver potable water supplies to some of the town’s residents.

Ignoring the prospect of a pitched political battle, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday renominated the chairman of the California Energy Commission (CEC), Joseph Desmond, for a full six-year term. Leaders in the Democratic-controlled state legislature already have indicated publicly they will block the confirmation of Desmond, a former Silicon Valley business leader who has served as Schwarzenegger’s chief energy adviser.

California’s governor and its largest utility pitched in Wednesday to provide help in the recovery effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, and local governments quickly volunteered fire and public works personnel and equipment for the ravaged Gulf of Mexico coast in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. On Thursday the governor added assistance from the California National Guard.