(See RDC Overreach Alert)
Governor 
Sean Parnell yesterday announced Revenue Commissioner Bryan Butcher (NGP Photo-R) has resigned his position to become the CEO and executive director of Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC). Dan Fauske (NGP Photo), who currently heads AHFC, has taken the position of president and executive director of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC). (Also, see ADN story by Lisa Demer.)
Huffington Post Canada. TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) says it's building a $1.5-billion extension to its pipeline system in northeastern British Columbia that will help deliver natural gas to an export terminal planned for Prince Rupert, B.C. The North Montney Mainline will extend TransCanada's existing Groundbirch pipeline by adding some 305 kilometres of new large-diameter pipe. Progress Energy, a subsidiary of Malaysian energy giant Petronas, has signed up to ship two billion cubic feet per day on the North Montney Mainline. TransCanada says it's also in talks with other potential customers.
RDC Alert:
The Citizens’ Advisory Commission on Federal Areas is sponsoring a Federal Overreach Summit at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage next Monday and Tuesday. The summit is open to the public and there is no cost to attend.
Federal Overreach Summit
Monday-Tuesday, August 12-13, 2013
Dena'ina Convention Center, Anchorage
The purpose of the Summit is to gather major participants in an examination of Alaska’s relationship with the federal government prior to Statehood, during the Statehood process, and after Statehood, including a discussion of the following: Equal Footing Doctrine, navigable waters, ANCSA, ANILCA, RS 2477, the Endangered Species Act, Clean Air & Water Acts, and documenting a historical perspective of the relationship surrounding particular events, actions, and results.
The goal of the summit is to lay the foundation for an action plan for Congress, the Alaska State Legislature, and the governor to improve the working relationship between Alaska and the federal government.
An agenda and registration is available at: http://dnr.alaska.gov/commis/cacfa/
Consumer Energy Alliance Clips – August 8, 2013
Fuel Fix: EPA Decision to Avoid Blendwall in 2013-14 is Right Step
Yesterday, the EPA finally finalized its 2013 volumetric ethanol blending standards. The requirements on how much ethanol must be blended into the nation’s fuel supply remain near the E10 blendwall (at a 9.74% national blend), and grossly overestimate the ability of the cellulosic biofuels industry to meet the mandate.
Politic Pro: Afternoon Energy
Mark your calendars: Virginia gubernatorial candidates Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe will participate in a CEA sponsored discussion on Aug. 29 to dish about Virginia’s energy future at GMU’s Law School Auditorium.
Businessweek: Bid to Repeal Ethanol Mandate Seen Diluted by Renewable Change
Corn ethanol producers say a pledge by U.S. regulators to lower the level of renewable fuel use required next year may deflate a well-funded oil industry effort aimed at persuading Congress to repeal the mandate.
Philadelphia Business Journal: Refinery praises EPA biofuel action, Toomey blasts it
The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision Tuesday to make it easier for oil refiners to meet biofuel quotas drew mixed reactions.
Des Moines Register: E85 could help U.S. avoid so-called ethanol blend wall, study finds
A study from Iowa State University said the United States can overcome the so-called “ethanol blend wall” and meet the country’s renewable fuels mandate starting next year by increasing the use of attractively-priced fuel containing 85 percent ethanol.
The Patriot-News: Toomey pans higher EPA biofuel requirement
The recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to raise biofuel usage requirements will increase fuel and food prices, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey warned Tuesday. Toomey, R-Lehigh, said the increase via the Renewable Fuel Standard was raised despite his objections and a bipartisan group of senators.
E & E News: NEGOTIATIONS: International climate talks could fail without more national actions — report
There will be no new climate change treaty in 2015 unless more nations develop domestic legislation to address rising greenhouse gas levels, a new study concludes.
Politico Pro: Judge orders BP to pay claim center's operating costs
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan rules yesterday that BP must fund the claims center set up to process the billions of dollars in claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP argued that the Deepwater Horizon Claims Center's request for $130 million in funding didn't provide enough information for the company to decide if the amount was reasonable, but Shushan disagreed, calling BP's refusal to provide the funds "unreasonable."
Associated Press: Railroad in Quebec tragedy files for bankruptcy
A rail company whose runaway oil train caused a fire and explosion that killed 47 people in a small town in Canada filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday, and an attorney said he expects company executives to explore putting it up for sale within weeks.
Salon: The anti-Keystone ad NBC refused to air
Yesterday afternoon, I received a PR pitch from billionare Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate Action group. The team had produced an ad parodying TransCanada CEO Russ Girling and disputing claims that the Keystone XL pipeline will decrease gas prices and end U.S. dependence on foreign oil. It was slated to run during Obama’s appearance on “The Tonight Show.”
The Hill: NBC: Steyer’s anti-Keystone ad ‘violates our guidelines’
Washington, D.C.'s NBC television station refused to broadcast Keystone XL pipeline foe Tom Steyer’s ad attacking the project during President Obama’s Tuesday appearance on "The Tonight Show."
Washington Times: UPTON: Unlocking the power of Keystone
Next month will mark five years since TransCanada first applied to the U.S. State Department to build the Keystone XL pipeline. In those five years, we have endured a financial collapse and a Great Recession, and we continue to struggle with stubbornly high unemployment.
Houston Chronicle: Obama's jobs spin
President Barack Obama says he is pivoting toward jobs. Again, at this point it is more of a pirouette. It shouldn't take a Nobel Prize winner to figure out what is driving growth in the U.S. economy – natural gas. Just look at the unemployment rates in places like Texas and North Dakota. Fracking won't solve all our economic woes, and it brings some ecological concerns of its own, but opening land to energy exploration is an undeniable way to drive job growth – all while reducing our reliance on foreign oil or dirty coal.
State Impact Pennsylvania: PA Petitions Full Supreme Court to Rehear Act 13 Challenge
Changes on the bench at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have prompted two state agencies to petition the court to rehear arguments in an ongoing challenge to the controversial Marcellus Shale drilling law known as Act 13. But whether a new Supreme Court justice will be able to participate in the final ruling is a matter of some speculation.
WKBN 27 News: Fracking ban could make it to November ballot
Voters could be asked again in November whether or not they want fracking in the city of Youngstown. Voters stuck the charter amendment down in the May primary election, but now a group says they have received enough signatures to put it on the ballot again. On Wednesday, they were turning voter registrations into the Mahoning County Board of Elections. They believe it is important for voters to be heard on important issues like these.
Reason: Los Angeles City Council Considers Fracking Regs
Members of the Los Angeles City Council are expected to consider a resolution calling for tougher regulations on local fracking activities when they return from recess next week.
Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers call for review of offshore fracking
A group of state lawmakers is calling for an investigation by federal regulators into reports of oil companies engaging in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, off the California coast. Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) wrote the letter signed by seven other state legislators and sent to the the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency.
New Castle News: Opportunity would come with cracker plant
Should Shell Chemical choose Beaver County for its cracker plant location, it would create tremendous opportunity for western Pennsylvania.
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