Fox News via Alaska Standard, By Dan Springer.  Shell Oil Company has announced Pete Slaiby by Dave Harbour, SHELL, EPA, Air Quality, OCS, Chukchi Sea, Federal Overreachit must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.  Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby (NGP Photo) says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. “We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”
 
New York Times (4/25/11) reports: The latest phase in the legal fight over offshore drilling permits that was kick-started by last year’s Deepwater Horizon disaster begins this week with two back-to-back arguments in a federal appeals court in New Orleans…

 

Calgary Herald by Richard Cuthbertson.  An all-candidates forum in Calgary Centre-Jim Prentice by Dave Harbour, Calgary, Canadian InstituteNorth quickly turned to energy issues on Monday evening, as political hopefuls sparred over a series of hot-button election concerns. … Calgary Centre-North has attracted strong local attention this campaign, as it’s the only riding in the city where the Conservative incumbent is not running for re-election after Jim Prentice (NGP Photo) decided to leave politics.  Conservative candidate Michelle Rempel, the party’s hopeful in the riding, argued the Tories are the only party that recognizes the energy sector is central to the economic strength of Alberta, and vital to the entire Canadian economy.  She said energy policies from other parties -such as proposed carbon taxes, bans on offshore tanker traffic in northwest British Columbia, and limited support for pipeline development -could affect the economy.