FEATURE ARTICLES
Wyoming Supreme Court Upholds Coal Plant Permit
The Powder River Basin Resource Council and Sierra Club challenged an air quality permit the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality issued for the plant in 2007, even though operators say they’ve installed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of pollution control equipment.
10Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
EPA: No Plans for Own Carbon Trading Program
The Obama administration has no plans to set up a “cap-and-trade” program for greenhouse gases under existing law if Congress doesn’t pass legislation doing so, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in remarks at the National Press Club in Washington.
9Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Energy Groups Relieved Sage Grouse will
Not be Listed
Friday’s announcement by the Interior Department that it won’t list the bird as an endangered or threatened species has energy industries operating in the West breathing a little easier. The oil and gas, wind and solar industries will still face scrutiny in sage grouse habitat but much less so than if the bird had made the list.
8Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Wind Energy Bills Signed by Freudenthal
Wyoming will have more authority over the siting and development of wind farms and the state will begin taxing the energy source under bills that Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed into law Friday. The $1-per-megawatt-hour tax on wind energy generated in the state goes into effect in 2012.
6Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Interior Expands “Common-Sense” Efforts to Conserve Sage Grouse Habitat in the West
The federal government will start to protect the sage grouse as a “candidate” species under the Endangered Species Act. The Interior said the compromise decision embraces the latest science indicating that sage grouse need help to avoid extinction in the face of energy development, grazing and house-building.
5Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
250-Megawatt Interconnection in Wyoming Sought by Wind Energy America
The company is seeking the interconnection from Black Hills Power, Inc., for the project in Weston County, which should be capable of generating 600 million kilowatt units of power each year, or emough equivalent electricty of roughly 60,000 homes.
5Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Casper Economic Forecast —
Wyoming News is Mostly Grim
A new pipeline was the most uplifting report at the gathering, while how much things have changed during the last two years was highlighted by Buck McVeigh, administrator of the Economic Analysis Division for the State of Wyoming.
3Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
House Committee Moves State Wind Tax to
Full Senate
With support from Gov. Freudenthal, the State House already passed HB 101. If eventually approved by the Senate, the measure would impose a $1.00 per megawatt hour excise tax on wind energy production.
25Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
The Politics of Natural Gas: Ignoring the Obvious
Expanding its role in the nation’s energy landscape should be a policy priority because it is one of the least expensive and biggest payback options on the table. It makes more sense for the $8 billion heading to the nuclear industry to be spent, instead, on developing more natural gas fueling locations, and converting city, county and state fleets to CNG power?
17Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Wyoming Debates Excise Tax for Wind Energy
Gov. Dave Freudenthal made the wind energy tax a centerpiece of his legislative agenda, drawing surprise and alarm from some in the state’s fledgling wind industry. The proposal cleared its first hurdle last last week when the state House voted to introduce the bill.
15Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Barrasso Says Obama’s Budget Will Hurt Job
Creation in West
While Obama and members of his administration were quick to describe the budgetary taxes and regulations as part of their battle against Big Oil, the truth is that these measures directly hurt American workers and kill red, white and blue jobs. This couldn’t come at a worse time.
11Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Bloomberg: Natural Gas Glut Continues Despite
Drilling Reduction
Figures compiled by regulators in Texas and Wyoming, the biggest U.S. gas sources, are overstating the drain on supply from rigs idled by producers. “A massive collapse in the gas supply is a pipe dream,” said analyst Subash Chandra.
11Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued