government regulation

E15 fuel/shutterstock

EPA approved E15 for the marketplace knowing that automotive and fuels experts were still studying its impacts. Rather than acknowledge approval was premature, EPA and DOE instead attack the research and the researchers.[read more]

natural gas well entrance

Just released federal government draft rules for fracking fail to protect people from harm. Instead the rules protect the oil and gas industry from having to follow strong public health and environmental standards.[read more]

Tom Reichner / Shutterstock.com

BLM’s aim with this rule, compared to a previous version, was to take hydraulic fracturing regulation in a better direction – acknowledging the role of the states and measures including FracFocus.org, the online fracking fluid registry.[read more]

Is the EPA listening?

It’s one thing to have genuine differences over energy regulatory policy – as the oil and natural gas industry has with EPA’s proposed Tier 3 rule. It’s quite another to see that the rule-making process is being gamed.[read more]

energy investment/shutterstock

Without an evolution of business models, we could be left contemplating which devices in our homes and businesses get highest priority for electricity delivered from a grid that lacks resiliency and results in reduced reliability.[read more]

nuclear energy/shutterstock

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just released a draft Protective Action Guideline that sets standards and makes recommendations for the response to a large release of radioactive material into the environment.[read more]

Deepwater Horizon

We've issued report card on the progress made and the considerable work yet to be done since the BP spill, assigning grades to the three key actors: the administration (B), the offshore drilling industry (B-); and the U.S. Congress (D+).[read more]

closer inspection/shutterstock

First, the standards put forth by CSSD are no substitute for strong regulation and enforcement. Voluntary efforts by industry leaders help only to distinguish the best from the rest and raise the bar.[read more]

greenhouse gas emissions

Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide is critical to long-term efforts. But curbing greenhouse gases with shorter atmospheric lifetimes will have significant near-term climate benefits.[read more]

energy resilience

Resilience–measured in strength, portfolio diversity, adaptability and innovativeness–is essential for the oil and natural gas industry to continue to play a role in the future.[read more]

iQoncept/Shutterstock

We talked recently about increasing access to domestic oil and natural gas as key to a made-in-America energy plan. Here’s another essential piece: common-sense regulation. Without a reasonable regulatory structure that’s transparent and accessible, red tape could tie up America’s ample energy resources.[read more]

In more than 30 years (!) as a reporter, I’ve covered government and business and spent a fair bit of time thinking about which is more likely to move us closer to a sustainable, just and compassionate world. Of course, it will take both—the power of markets tempered by the hand of government. But over the years, and despite the...[read more]