Politics: What to Expect from the Republicans on Energy Policy

At noon today, Republican John Boehner will be sworn in as the 61st Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the GOP will take over partial control of the government. (Apparently the outgoing Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, actually hands over the gavel to the new leader, a ceremony that certainly has more gravitas than the Internet [...]

Oil Spill: Static Kill on the Well—and Just Static in the Senate

The “static kill” is so called because that’s what BP aims to create—a static situation within its blown well, one where the drilling mud the company is currently pumping into the well offsets the pressure in the reservoir itself. If BP’s Houston-based drilling engineers want some advice on how to create a static situation, however, [...]

The Energy Bill Gets Oiled

Want a laugh? Think back to the end of March, back when people probably thought “Deepwater Horizon” was the title of James Cameron’s next film. President Obama roiled the environmental community by announcing his support for expanded offshore drilling, as part of a broader, more comprehensive energy strategy. Here’s a relevant passage from the Mar. [...]

Can Congress Pass a Renewable Energy Standard?

A carbon cap now seems to be beyond the greenest dreams of environmentalists, but is it possible that Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid’s energy bill will be more than just oil spill measures? It could happen. Though Reid had said last week that he wouldn’t be able to include a renewable energy standard (RES) in [...]

Why the Climate Bill Died

Expects lots of forthcoming post-mortems on comprehensive climate and energy legislation, which effectively died (for now) last week when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided not to include a carbon cap or renewable energy standard on the stripped-down bill he intends to introduce this week. I’ve already had my say—today in the New York Times, [...]

Cap and Trade is Dead (Really, Truly, I’m Not Kidding). Who’s to Blame?

The headline has been written countless times, but this time it is true: carbon cap-and-trade of any sort will not come out of this Congress—and perhaps it never will. Instead of comprehensive economy-wide carbon cap that Senator John Kerry had urged—and that the House had already passed a year ago—or even the compromise utility-only cap [...]