Energy & Fuel

President Obama's vision of a green-jobs economy includes a new agency, ARPA-Energy, like the one that invented the Internet. It already includes 16 projects applicable to electric cars.

"The future pace of drilling approvals in the Gulf of Mexico might be slowed less by new laws or regulations stemming from last year's massive spill but by a decades-old law that opens the door to longer environmental reviews and litigation."

"Royal Dutch Shell is scrapping plans to drill an exploratory well in the Beaufort Sea near Alaska this summer, after failing to secure key permits for the project."

"President Obama's goal of putting 1 million plug-in electric cars on the road within four years is unlikely to be met because automakers are not planning to make enough cars due to uncertain consumer demand, auto industry leaders concluded in a report being released Wednesday."

"Nuclear power and high speed rail will top the focus of China's plan to invest $1.5 trillion in seven key industries and shift the world's number two economy away from its role as a supplier of cheap goods, sources said."

"Federal investigators' findings in the San Bruno pipeline explosion probe suggest that thousands of miles of long-buried and untested natural gas pipelines across the United States are at far greater risk of failure than the industry and government regulators have long maintained, experts say."

"'Revolutionary action' is needed to achieve sustainable development, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today told the government and business leaders at World Economic Forum in Davos."

"President Obama visits green-energy companies in Wisconsin as battles brew over spending cuts back in Washington. The day takes on a football theme as Obama, a Chicago Bears fan, receives a Packers jersey and, in a factory visit, quotes Vince Lombardi."