GULF OIL DISASTER
Coast Guard plan to scale back cleanup angers some
OFFSHORE DRILLING REGULATION
Obama budget calls for new spending and industry fees for offshore regulation
Offshore Oil-Production Royalties Projected to Rise 68% Under Obama Budget
"Receipts will reach $5.97 billion in the year that starts Oct. 1, from $3.56 billion in 2010, according to the budget for the Interior Department released today. Obama also is proposing $25 million in fees from energy companies that hold nonproducing oil and gas leases, part of the administration's effort to provide taxpayers with higher revenue from minerals development."
WEST COAST
Representative Garamendi (D-CA) introduced the West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 612) to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. (2/10/11).
GAZING INTO THE ENERGY FUTURE
The coming misery that Big Oil discusses behind closed doors
"The new report suggests that all is not lost -- there are signs, if slow ones, of attention to climate change. Whatever the case, Shell sticks with its prediction that eventually -- after about a decade of misery -- people come around and decide to act:
"High domestic prices and exceptionally demanding standards imposed by governments provoke significant advances in energy efficiency. Eventually, locally developed alternative supplies -- biofuels, wind, and thermal solar -- also contribute on a much greater scale than before. By 2030, healthy economic growth is restored, with particular vibrancy in the new energy sector that has received a massive stimulus to innovation through this difficult period. ""
