Reuters.  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, trying to win U.S. backing for the Keystone XL pipeline, has sent a letter to President Barack Obama proposing joint action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in theoil and gas sector, CBC News said on Friday.  The White House has not responded to the letter, which was sent in late August, CBC said, although Harper met Obama briefly during the just-ended G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Obama has the final say over whether to let the pipeline cross from Canada into the United States [...]

  Point of personal privilege:  Our friend and former Valdez mayor, city councilman, businessman and Alaska public servant John Kelsey passed away Tuesday, Aug. 27. He was 93 years old.  (Kelsey was a longtime supporter of a pipeline/LNG project terminating in Valdez.  Another longtime LNG advocate for a Valdez project was former Governor Bill Egan, also of Valdez.    -dh)  The Hill: REGULATION NATION: Obama rulemaking system seen as deeply flawed -  By Ben Goad and Julian Hattem  Canada's Petroleum Institute for Continuing Education: a 3 month preview of upcoming courses. Today's [...]

"Remembering the Past" (Today's Commentary: Xtra) by Dave Harbour Today's Energy In Depth FRACK Clips: NATIONAL Report: Oil and gas can boost economies and outdoor recreation. Houston Chronicle/Fuel Fix. “Energy and amenity development are not mutually exclusive,” said Southern Utah University political science professor Ryan Yonk and Utah State University economics professor Randy Simmons. “Because both energy and amenity resources provide value to a county, when counties have both resources they tend to develop both, and in a way that allows both sectors to grow.”   West Texas town's water [...]

The Hill by Cameron Joseph.  Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) is going local in a bid to save his seat in the Senate — and possibly the Democratic majority in the Senate.   The first-term senator is touting his stances against the federal government in an effort to emphasize what he says are his Alaska-first policies.  After Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Begich is seen as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat running for reelection next year, and Republican chances of winning the six seats needed to retake the Senate would improve substantially if [...]

The Hill by Zack Coleman.  It’s crunch time in the fight over constructing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.  Both sides believe a decision by President Obama could come by the end of the year, making the next few months critical for lobbying and messaging efforts.  Opponents plan a burst of demonstrations and other events across the country to rally environmental pressure on Obama to reject the Alberta-to-the-Gulf Coast pipeline.

HEADING TODAY'S ENERGY NEWS CLIPS IS THIS STATISTIC -- CONCERNING TO ALASKANS, UPLIFTING TO NORTH DAKOTANS AND RAILROAD INVESTOR WARREN BUFFETT: U.S. moves more oil out of North Dakota by rail than the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.Scientific American. Currently, half of all oil coming out of the Bakken shale is transported by railroad (more than the third by pipelines). In its Draft Assessment of the Keystone XL Pipeline, the U.S. State Department estimates that by the end of this year 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil will be carried out of the Bakken on rail [...]

Background: HP's piece yesterday begins, "A DeSmogBlog investigation reveals that Robert Bauer, former White House Counsel and President Barack Obama's personal attorney, works at the corporate law firm Perkins Coie LLP, which does legal work for TransCanada's South Central LNG Project, formerly known as Alaska Gas Pipeline Project. Furthermore, Dan Sullivan, current Commissioner of Alaska's Department of Natural Resources, and former Alaska Attorney General and former Assistant Secretary of State in the Bush Administration, is a former Perkins attorney. ---------------------------------- Our friend, Brad Keithley, is one of Alaska's premier oil and gas attorneys.  During the days when [...]

Huge Flock of Energy Economists Migrates North To Alaska The United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE), will be hosting its annual conference in Anchorage July 28-31. The conference will bring together a diverse group of international and U.S. experts from private enterprise, government, and academia.  Subscribe and see latest issue: Petroleum News Here is Tim Bradner's Journal of Commerce article on the recent Resource Development Council for Alaska presentation by BP’s new Alaska President Janet Weiss.  Here is a link to our earlier report, "Pay Attention to RDC".  -dh The USAEE has [...]

Today's latest from American Energy Alliance: Like, first they came for the loggers, and I was like, who cares? Then they came for coal miners, and I was like, right on dude. Wait, wait, you seriously want to take away my bonfire? Help, somebody help!Fox News (7/11/13) reports: A tradition dating back to the 1940s -- bonfire pits on the beaches of southern California -- is being targeted by state officials who say the popular pastime is no longer acceptable because of global warming and negative health consequences. ‘One fire pit [...]