Federal Judge Does Right By theLaw, Right By His Neighbors, in Striking Down Obama Offshore Ban - WithinMinutes, WH Dispatches Pressure Groups to Attack the Judge.  LATimes (6/22) reports, "Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said she would urge theObama administration not to appeal the ruling but to find a way to achieve itsgoal of ensuring safety without harming her state's fragile economy. Theadministration has said it would appeal. Landrieu warned that the moratoriumwould drive rigs from the gulf...

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All Eyes on TheHonorable Martin Feldman. Federal Judge, Appointed by the Gipper, Could Rule asEarly as Tomorrow on Deepwater Drilling Ban. The LATimes (6/22) reports, "Inside New Orleans' federal courthouse Monday,a judge was deliberating the points of law that could determine the fate of theObama administration's six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling. Outside,Lucy Lailhengue was marching up and down Poydras Street with a sign thatoffered a more blunt line of reasoning: "If you support...

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Mutiny: Senior Senate Dem.Demands  Majority Leader "Set Aside"Legislation to Ration Public and Private Use of Carbon-Based Energy. TheHill (6/18) reports, "Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) on Thursday said theSenate should abandon efforts - at least for now - to pass a sweeping climatechange bill and also urged adoption of his plan that would block some EPAgreenhouse gas regulations for two years. "The Senate should be focusing on theimmediate issues before us - to suspend EPA action on...

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Deepwater-Gate: TechnicalExperts Whose Views Were Misrepresented by Salazar Call Obama Ban on CurrentOffshore Exploration "Craziness." WallStreet Journal (6/17) editorializes, "The experts were certainly under theimpression they were reviewing a comprehensive document, as some of therecommendations would take six months or even a year to implement. And thereport they agreed to did address moratoria: It recommended a six-month ban onnew deepwater permits. Yet Benton Baugh, president of...

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EPA Did Its Best to Hide It, Butin Agency's Report on Kerry-Lieberman, an Interesting Nugget: Bill Will OnlyReduce Fossil Fuel Usage by FOUR PERCENT over Next 20 YEARS. LATimes (6/16) reports, "Major changes in energy policy - and attendantpolicies on climate change - are hard to bring to fruition because they requiresupport from Congress and a broad array of contending interest groups. So far,even modest steps toward energy independence have proved unacceptable. Case inpoint: EPA said...

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TopBloomberg Reporter (And Head of White House Correspondents Assn) Set to Re-JoinNRDC Staff for Second Time in 4 Years.Politico (6/13) reports, "Bloomberg'sEd Chen is joining the Natural Resources Defense Council. Chen left the LosAngeles Times to join the NRDC in 2006, but then jumped back into the world ofjournalism in 2007 with a job at Bloomberg. In an email obtained by POLITICO'sMike Allen, Chen says: "My regret over leaving one of the world's largest --and certainly the most ambitious...

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Break Out the Flash Cards: AidesSay Markey "Has Been Prepping for Weeks" Ahead of Tomorrow's Annual Show Trialwith Big Five Energy Executives.E&E News (6/14,subs. req'd) reports, "Rep. Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has summoned the topexecutives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Shell OilCo., as well as BP, to a hearing in his House Energy and EnvironmentSubcommittee tomorrow. While the other executives are unlikely to deliver theharsh rebuke that BP has received from...

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Deepwater-Gate: Salazar Forcedto Apologize for Misleading the Public on Whether Deepwater Moratorium  Was Supported by Panel of Experts,Engineers. FOXNews (6/11) reports, "The seven experts who advised President Obama on howto deal with offshore drilling safety after the Deepwater Horizon explosion areaccusing his administration of misrepresenting their views to make it appearthat they supported a six-month drilling moratorium -- something they actuallyoppose. The experts, recommended by the...

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While Murkowski resolution failed, good news emergesfrom Senate debate

  Washington, DC – This afternoon the U.S. Senate voteddown a measure sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that would havestripped the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority tocriminalize carbon emissions from stationary sources. Stationary sourcesinclude power plants, hospitals, schools, factories and other large buildingsthat emit above a politically determined level of carbon dioxide...
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(Deep-) Watergate: Experts Askedto Review/Inform Salazar's Offshore Report Say Deepwater Moratorium Rec WasAdded After the Fact - And They Oppose It. WallStreet Journal (6/10) editorializes, "In the wake of the oil spill,President Obama asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to produce a report on newdrilling safety recommendations. Then on May 27 Mr. Obama announced a six-monthdeep water drilling ban, justifying it on the basis of Mr. Salazar's report, atop recommendation of which was the...

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