Vote

The New York Senate late Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a temporary ban on drilling in the state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale by a vote of 49 to 9.

A unanimous vote by nearly 200 mayors Monday in favor of a resolution calling on the federal government to encourage greater use of natural gas vehicles (NGV) should signal other authorities to turn their support toward alternative fuels for transportation, according to American’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA).

The Senate has passed by voice vote an amendment to the broad financial regulatory reform bill that would make it easier for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to prove manipulation in commodity and derivatives markets.

As the House of Representatives moved toward floor debate starting Thursday with a possible vote within a few days on financial reform measures, all the major natural gas and electric power organizations joined in a letter to House members urging that the end-user exemption from mandatory clearing or exchange trading of derivatives or swaps be preserved.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider the appeal of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted in 2006 on 19 criminal charges. In a 3-0 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans last January denied a request to overturn Skilling’s convictions, which the defense claimed were based on incorrect legal theory, faulty jury instructions, a biased jury and prosecutorial misconduct (see NGI, Jan. 12). However, the three-judge panel ordered that Skilling be resentenced, which could reduce the prison term of 24 years and four months. The court agreed with the defense team’s argument that Judge Sim Lake, who presided over Skilling’s trial, had misapplied federal guidelines in enhancing Skilling’s sentence. When Skilling was sentenced, Lake ruled that Skilling’s conduct had endangered a “financial institution” because his actions had damaged the value of Enron’s pension fund. The circuit court found that Enron’s pension fund was not a financial institution. Skilling’s legal team appealed for a review of the case to the Supreme Court in May (see NGI, May 18). The defense team argues that under a federal fraud statute, prosecutors failed to show that Skilling deprived Enron of his “honest services.” The defense also contends that pretrial publicity in Houston, where Enron was headquartered, had prejudiced the jury and led to an unfair trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday agreed to consider the appeal of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted in 2006 on 19 criminal charges.

Energy Transfer Partners LP’s (ETP) proposed 180-mile Tiger natural gas pipeline to tap the Haynesville Shale received another vote of confidence Tuesday in the form of a 10-year contract with an undisclosed shipper to transport 300 MMcf/d, bringing total capacity commitments on the project to at least 1.8 Bcf/d.

The closeness of the House vote Friday on climate change and energy legislation (HR 2454) presages a tough battle ahead over the controversial issue in the Senate, Capitol Hill observers say.

A House appropriations subcommittee last Wednesday approved by voice vote a $32.3 billion spending bill for the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies for fiscal year 2010. The measure did not include a $122 million fee favored by the Obama administration to force the development of existing nonproducing leases in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). But the respite may only be temporary.