Protection

President Obama’s nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sailed through her confirmation hearing last Thursday, fielding softball questions from Democrats. The issues raised by Republicans were more pointed, but not by much. Gina McCarthy was not pressed on one of the most important issues to oil and gas — regulations pertaining to hydraulic fracturing (fracturing).

President Obama’s nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sailed through her confirmation hearing Thursday, fielding softball questions from Democrats. The issues raised by Republicans were more pointed, but not by much.

President Obama’s nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) easily sailed through her confirmation hearing Thursday, fielding softball questions from Democrats. The issues raised by Republicans were more pointed, but not by much. Gina McCarthy was not pressed on hydraulic fracturing (fracturing).

On the energy news front in Washington DC, Senate hearings for new heads of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Obama administration’s energy budget for fiscal year (FY) 2014, and the return visit of the premier of the Canadian province of Alberta to press for U.S. approval of the Keystone Pipeline XL, will dominate the upcoming week.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has given Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. permission to resume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations at a natural gas well in Wyoming County that malfunctioned last month.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is looking for a new secretary to lead the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), but in a strange twist the outgoing secretary, Michael Krancer, is reportedly on a short list of names to replace a state Supreme Court justice who resigned last Monday after being convicted on corruption charges.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) independent Science Advisory Board (SAB) has formed a Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory panel of independent experts to peer review the EPA’s 2014 draft report of results for its national study on potential health and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. EPA said the SAB panel will provide scientific feedback on EPA’s research in “an open and transparent manner.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is looking for a new secretary to lead the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), but in a strange twist the outgoing secretary, Michael Krancer, is reportedly on a short list of names to replace a state Supreme Court justice who resigned Monday after being convicted on corruption charges.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) independent Science Advisory Board (SAB) has formed a Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory panel of independent experts to peer review the EPA’s 2014 draft report of results for its national study on potential health and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. EPA said the SAB panel will provide scientific feedback on EPA’s research in “an open and transparent manner.”