"This week the leaders of the presidential commission that investigated last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will take their case for increased funding and offshore drilling safety reform to Capitol Hill, but their specific legislative recommendations may reach deaf ears."
"Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, is urging committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to probe whether a high-profile climate skeptic misled the panel about how much the petroleum industry funds his work."
House Republicans would like to cut a wide range of energy and environmental programs.
"A massive feat of engineering by any measure, the Keystone pipeline expansion project would transport crude oil close to 1,700 miles from "oil sands" in the icy reaches of Hardisty, Alberta, down through the Great Plains to the refineries of Port Arthur, Tex. In doing so, the giant pipe also promises to allay some fears about U.S. energy security: The oil will come from a trusted ally, and its cross-continental path avoids visions of another deep-sea drilling disaster."
"The Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that cars and light trucks from the 2001 model year onward can safely use a blend of 15 percent ethanol mixed with gasoline, up from the 10 percent standard now in effect in much of the country. The decision expands the pool of vehicles that could use such a fuel to about 62 percent of the total on the roads."
"Now that 2010 has gone down as one of history's hottest years, many states are choosing not to wait for Congress to tackle climate change and are taking their own steps to slash greenhouse gas emissions."
"NASA is about to launch an Earth-observing satellite with new technology onboard designed to broaden our understanding of how the Sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect Earth's climate."
"Representative Edward Markey on Thursday asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to launch an immediate investigation into a $16 billion share-swap plan between BP and state-owned Russian oil firm Rosneft."
Quite a few mayors are praising the Energy Department efficiency and conservation block grants authorized under the economic stimulus -- and are seeking to make it permanent.
"Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao of China, who is in Washington on an official state visit, said in a joint statement this afternoon that they 'view climate change and energy security as two of the greatest challenges of our time.' In an open letter today, U.S. environmental leaders urged the presidents to adopt 'a wartime-like mobilization' to cut greenhouse gas emissions."
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