President Obama Endorses Natural Gas as Bridge Fuel in Climate Speech

By -
From Forbes:
The chief method of cutting emissions is to effectively declare war on coal. In the plan’s most controversial aspect, “President Obama is issuing a Presidential Memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency to work expeditiously to complete carbon pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.” These standards, it says, should be drafted by this time next year, and put into place by mid 2015. How tough will they be? This “blueprint” doesn’t say, but if the EPA’s recent rule-making actions are a guide, the plan is to drive as many coal-fired power plants into mothballs as possible.
The document states that “65% of all greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to energy supply and energy use.” About 40% of those emissions come from coal and a similar portion from oil.
The president’s policy then, is to promote natural gas as a “bridge fuel” to get the country away from coal and oil. “We will promote fuel-switching from coal to gas for electricity production and encourage the development of a global market for gas,” says the plan. In his speech today the president said: ”Natural gas is creating jobs. And it’s the transition fuel that can power our economy with less carbon pollution.”
This implies that the EPA will do its part to persuade power generators to build more gas-fired power plants, while DOE and FERC will be encouraged to approve a sizable number of liquefied natural gas export terminals.
Read the rest here.

Further coverage of the climate speech, from the Washington Post:
What did we learn from President Obama’s climate speech Tuesday? Here are five takeaways.
1. He won’t duck the climate implications of Keystone XL, even though he may still end up approving it. Obama declared, “Our national interest will be served only if this pipeline does not significantly exacerbate the climate problem.” That means the administration will be analyzing whether approving the project will generate more greenhouse gas emissions than blocking it would. However in its draft environmental impact assessment, the State Department indicated that even if the president denies a permit to TransCanada to build the project, the oil in Alberta may be shipped to the U.S. by rail, leading to comparable emissions. So Obama’s final decision will largely depend on how his deputies crunch the numbers. 
Read more of that article here.

And from Politico:
If you were looking for live coverage of President Obama's big climate speech on Tuesday afternoon, your best bet was not CNN or MSNBC but The Weather Channel, which carried full coverage and post-game analysis.
The big three cable networks -- including MSNBC, which used to break for even the most familiar Obama stump speeches -- skipped most of the the president's speech, opting instead for coverage of the recent Supreme Court rulings (MSNBC), the Trayvon Martin trial and the Paula Deen controversy (CNN), and, in the case of Fox News, an interview with a climate change skeptic. 
Read the rest of that article here. 

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Popular posts from this blog

Fracktivist in Dimock Releases Carefully Edited Video, Refuses to Release the Rest

By -
Image
From Energy in Depth: There is something very strange going on along Carter Road, in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and I’m not speaking of natural gas, methane migration, contamination, litigation or even the extensive water testing there by the EPA and others.  No, I’m talking about a new “Watergate” conspiracy, complete with 18 minutes of missing tape (well, video, actually). It seems the ever-present Green Party member and  naturist   Vera Scroggins  (a/k/a  Vera Duerga ) has posted a video of Craig Sautner meeting with the EPA.  Mysteriously, the video is but 14 seconds in length, cutting off conversation in what is obviously mid-stream.  It raises a question Craig Sautner, like  Ronald Reagan in Kings Row , might have asked, “Where’s the rest of me?’  Carter Road, isn’t Kings Row, of course, (at least not until you arrive at  the mansion Scott Ely, one of the Dimock litigants, is building with his royalty money ), but there appears to be...
Read more

The Second Largest Oil and Gas Merger - Cabot and Cimarex

By -
Image
       Due to investor pressure, the U.S shale drillers are being pushed to improve financial and operational performance after a few years of poor returns. Even though the industry has improved its numbers, when compared to last year, investors still want more to be done for them to earn more money.      That's why two mid-tier shale drillers, Cabot and Climarex, have decided to merge in order to eliminate $100 million in annual costs, which means more money for the investors. This all-stock transaction is valued at about $7.4 billion, which is relatively high for the oil and gas sector.      The new entity will be renamed and the headquarters located in Houston, Texas. Cabot shareholders will own 49.5 percent of the new entity, and Climarex the rest.       The Cimarex-Cabot merger will address the investor's demand for a higher amount of returning cash. The initial plan is to pay a 50-cent-per-share special dividen...
Read more

Do You Know The History of Fracking?

By -
Image
  In 2018, 59% of total oil production in the U.S came from hydraulic fracking, which means it accounted for more than two-thirds of domestically manufactured gas. By 2024, fracking will reach an astounding $68 billion market value! Of course, fracking is not a new drilling method as you can trace it back hundreds of years. That's why we want to consider the history of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). We will be stating historical facts about it and focusing on the major historical occurrences that have influenced modern-day fracking. Pre-Fracking Days The idea of fracking started back in 1862 when Edward A.L. Roberts (Civil War veteran) witnessed Confederate soldiers exploding artillery rounds into a canal that obstructed a battlefield. At the time, Edward A.L. Roberts called it superincumbent fluid tamping. On April 26th, 1865, Edward A.L. Roberts began experimenting with exploding torpedoes, which consisted of lowering a torpedo containing an amount of powder from fifteen to tw...
Read more