"WASHINGTON — A State Department contractor who prepared an environmental analysis of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline did not violate conflict of interest rules, even though the contractor had previously done work for TransCanada, the company seeking to build pipeline, a State Department inspector general’s investigation concluded on Wednesday."
"The next big Texas energy boom does not involve tight gas formations in the Barnett Shale, or deepwater oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico. While fossil resources continue to draw high interest from energy developers and investors in the Lone Star State, Texas' hottest energy prospect is wind power in West Texas and the Panhandle."
"Development of natural gas and wind resources in the Marcellus shale region could cover up nearly 1.3 million acres of land, an area bigger than the state of Delaware, with cement, asphalt and other impervious surfaces, according to a paper published this month in the scientific journal PLOS One."
"DURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina regulators who have been accused of lax oversight abruptly announced Tuesday that they may force Duke Energy to move its riverfront ash basin to a lined landfill away from waterways after one of its plants leaked tons of toxic coal ash into a major river."
"Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) requested an independent audit today of the State Department's environmental review system for projects such as Keystone XL, his latest step to protest the Obama administration's handling of the controversial oil sands crude pipeline."
"Federal regulators on Tuesday ordered shippers to properly test and classify crude oil from the productive Bakken region before loading it onto freight trains, a move meant to tighten regulatory standards after a spate of derailments and explosions that highlighted the hazards of carrying crude oil on rails."
"Exxon Mobil's CEO has joined a lawsuit to stop construction of a water tower near his home that would be used to in the fracking process to drill for oil."
Authorities re-opened a 65-mile reach of the Mississippi River which had been shut down for cleanup after an oil barge spilled.
"When the Oregon state inspector got close enough to the hulking black rail car with the red placard warning about flammable liquids inside, he heard hissing."
"Colorado regulators approved groundbreaking controls on emissions from oil and natural gas operations after an unusual coalition of energy companies and environmentalists agreed on measures to counter worsening smog."
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