NEB Organizes Inuvik Roundtable This Week And We Note International Enviro-extremist Groups Are Hard At Work Organizing To Stop Economic Development In The Canadian North.  Reference: CBC Story.   -dh

Comment:  October 14 (a month from now) ends the comment period for the Wishbone Hill Coal Permit Renewal and we urge readers to file electronic comments early.  Don’t be technical if that’s not your background; just say, "I support the Wishbone Hill Coal Permit Renewal".  Here’s the state webpage and here is a very good letter penned by Alaska State Senator Cathy Giessel (NGP Photo).  With all of the year-around staff resources available to them, we are aware of no other member of the Legislature to weigh in YET but we would be delighted to post other legislative and citizen comments on this and other comment period issues — such as those coming up in the blocks below.  Write us here.   Pay special attention to the OCS comment period below.  We urge citizens and public officials to take just a few minutes to influence a process that will determine what kind of economy our children will inherit.  -dh

 NPG Readers: Please Comment on OCS before September 26, 2011  
Comment in support of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Chukchi Sea Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, against further delay and ‘affirming Lease Sale 193"
 Send Comments:
COMMENTS: Final SEIS, Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193
c/o Regional Director, BOEMRE Alaska OCS Region
3801 Centerpoint Drive Ste. 500
Anchorage AK 99503-5820.
 NPG Readers: Please Comment on EPA O&G Emissions Regs 
Before October 24, 2011 send comments re: unnecessary natural gas emissions rules that will further slow down America’s economy and employment without significant benefit.  Federal Register notice with filing instructions
NPG Readers: Please Comment on ANWR.  Here’s how.
Testify: Fairbanks 10-19-11, Anchorage 10-20-11
Written testimony due: 11-15-11
(We are pleased to note House Joint Resolution 11 sponsored by by Charisse Millett (NGP Photo) in the House urging the Congress to not convert the 1002 area of ANWR to a status that prevents oil and gas development.   NGP Readers can refer to this resolution in their own comments and rely on the information conveyed by Representative Millett’s resolution.  -dh)

 

Today’s Consumer Energy Alliance News Clips:

 

A spate of pipeline spills in recent months has put the spotlight on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a severely understaffed agency that rarely issues fines and does not actively police the network of pipelines in the United States, according to The New York Times. PHMSA is so understaffed that it often leaves pipeline operators to regulate their own industry, according to federal reports, agency data and interviews with experts, the Times reports. The agency, which is overseen by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, recognizes its drawbacks and has asked Congress to approve stricter fines for operators and allow the agency to hire more staff.
 
President Obama believes that ending a suite of tax incentives for large oil companies could offset the cost of his newly proposed "American Jobs Act" to the tune of about $41 billion. That proposal is just one of several tax increases the White House asked Congress for today as aides began to unveil details on how the president plans to pay for a $447 billion jobs package that Republicans are already writing off as a second stimulus. All told, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew said his office has identified ways to raise $467 billion through changes to the tax code over the next 10 years, a total that would give the president some cushion in implementing his jobs plan. The vast majority of the funding, about $405 billion, would come from limiting the itemized deductions from individuals making more than $200,000 a year or families making more than $250,000 a year, Lew said.
 
The government today paved the way for the final breakup of the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling by unveiling the lineup of top lieutenants that will head the two new bureaus responsible for energy development along the nation’s coastlines. Many come from within the ranks of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, the agency that was created after last year’s oil spill that replaced the former Minerals Management Service. BOEMRE is set on Oct. 1 to split into two new agencies: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. “The new leadership represents a combination of talented people from inside the agency with an exceptionally well-qualified group of people recruited from outside the agency,” aid BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich.
 
President Obama unveiled his job-creating plan last week in a major nationwide speech, and now he must persuade Republicans in Congress to support him. But there’s something else the Obama administration can do on its own to put more Americans back to work.
Every five years the president must approve a long-range plan for selling offshore drilling leases. Companies use this process to plan their drilling schedules over the next five-year period.
The deadline for approving the next batch of leases is less than 10 months away, and the Obama administration is behind schedule. If there are glitches or delays, the bottom line is that energy companies will explore and drill less offshore – which means they produce fewer jobs too.
The administration needs to complete its work on time – mostly environmental reviews – so oil and gas producers can make their plans and hire more workers.