Obama's EPA and Energy Nominees Described as "Fracking-Friendly"
Ernest Moniz |
Read the whole article here.President Barack Obama says his picks to guide energy and environmental policy in his second term will lead the charge against global warming, a fight that may have one immediate beneficiary: natural gas.Obama picked Ernest Moniz, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist, for U.S. Energy secretary and Gina McCarthy, a longtime environmental regulator, to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Gina McCarthy In their current jobs, both have supported natural gas, the production of which by companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) has boomed with the adoption of a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Cheap gas has lessened the nation’s reliance on coal-fired power plants, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. With more rules targeting coal’s emissions in the offing, natural gas is poised for growth, and that’s proved divisive among environmentalists.“They’re going to be making sure that we’re investing in American energy, that we’re doing everything that we can to combat the threat of climate change,” Obama said at a White House ceremony yesterday.
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