environmental protection agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) administrator in the South and Southwest region (Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Arkansas), Al Armendariz, has resigned after Republicans took aim at comments he made two years ago regarding how the EPA would "crucify" corporations that broke environmental laws.An...[read more]

Defending regulation of greenhouse gases from court challenges will be a top priority for the Obama Administration's legal team this year, a senior U.S. Justice Department official said on Thursday.As the Environmental Protection Agency works to develop new rules to regulate climate destabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from...[read more]

Facing environmental suits and court-imposed obligations, the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to issue new rules to regulate climate destabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants and oil refineries, setting the Obama Administration up for a tough balancing act.“We are following through on our commitment to...[read more]

One of the energy stories I've followed with great interest all year concerns efforts to increase the proportion of ethanol blended into ordinary US gasoline. This began last year when Growth Energy, an ethanol trade association, asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver to increase the allowed percentage of ethanol in...[read more]

This morning I sat down with Stuart Varney & Co on FOX Business to talk about the EPA's decision to delay enforcement of CO2 emissions.  Here's the video: Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com If the player doesn't work in your browser, here is a link: Green Skeptic on FOX [read more]

The latest EPA study confirms that its original "seminal" study of methane leaks from natural gas use, i.e. "Methane Emissions from the Natural Gas Industry (GRI/EPA 1996) was in error.  The GRI/EPA 1996 study was the holy grail.  The IPCC used GRI/EPA numbers when it assessed the climate impact of gas.  The old figures...[read more]

Hydraulic fracturing trucks in western Colorado pumping fluid into wells at pressures of up to 35,000 PSI (Photo: Tim Hurst) The United States has an estimated 2,074 trillion cubic feet of natural gas locked away in the geologic formations below our feet. And until fairly recently, we didn’t really have a good way of unlocking the gas...[read more]

Tiffany Clements: Anecdotal information often drives a perception that environmental regulation is responsible for significant economic damage to regulated industries, including reduced productivity and lost jobs. Thus, opponents often claim that rules will be catastrophically costly. Proponents argue the contrary. A 2000 RFF analysis...[read more]

There appears to be a lot more natural gas than previously thought.  And that could have huge implications for low-cost CO2 emissions reductions in the near term, if we pass a climate and clean energy bill with a shrinking emissions cap and rising price, as I discuss here. But can the gas be developed in an environmentally...[read more]

Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) director Lisa Jackson just announced in their blog her seven priorities for the agency going forward this year. These are (in shorter versions): Taking Action on Climate Change - continue to develop common-sense solutions for reducing GHG emissions from large stationary sources like power...[read more]