Energy and Environment

The latest updates on energy and environment news, analysis and opinion covering energy policy and its impact on resources and climate.

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A presentation prepared in 2010 for then-EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson made clear that a pre-emptive veto "had never been done before in the history" of the Clean Water Act and could risk litigation. (Associated Press)

EXCLUSIVE: Memos show EPA officials tried to kill mine project before scientific review

By Phillip Swarts - The Washington Times

Though President Obama has repeatedly urged that science guide environmental decisions, regulators inside the Environmental Protection Agency secretly worked with tribal and environmental activists to preempt a full review of an Alaskan mine and veto the project before the owners' permits could be considered, internal memos show. Published April 30, 2014

Recent Stories

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy called for the inspector general to "temporarily halt" a probe after an investigator reported threatening behavior from an official inside the homeland security office, documents show. (Associated Press)

EPA chief Gina McCarthy intervened to halt internal inquiry

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy personally intervened to delay an inspector general's investigation into the agency's homeland security division, records show. Published April 29, 2014

This photo provided by James Bryant shows tornado damage, Sunday, April 27, 2014, in Mayflower, Ark. (AP Photo/Courtesy of James Bryant)

Arkansans rush for cover against twister; 14 die

By Andrew DeMillo and Jim Salter - Associated Press

A half-mile-wide tornado carved an 80-mile path of destruction through the Little Rock suburbs Sunday evening, killing at least 14 people, flattening rows of homes, shredding cars along a highway and demolishing a brand-new school before it even had a chance to open. Published April 28, 2014

President Barack Obama and ASIMO, an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility, bow to each other during a youth science event at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, known as the Miraikan, in Tokyo, Thursday, April 24, 2014. Showing solidarity with Japan, Obama affirmed Thursday that the U.S. would be obligated to defend Tokyo in a confrontation with Beijing over a set of disputed islands, but urged all sides to resolve the long-running dispute peacefully. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

In Japan, Obama plays soccer with a robot and warns students of climate change

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

President Obama is known as an avid golfer and sports fan, but Thursday was likely the first time he played soccer with a robot. Published April 24, 2014

"The Renewable Fuel Standard was designed to drive investment in and the development of advanced biofuels. It has succeeded in doing that, if not at the pace Congress originally had hoped," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican and a supporter of ethanol. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Running on empty: EPA slashes biofuel goals because of ethanol shortage

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Just a few years ago, it looked as though ethanol and its politically potent lobby would reshape the U.S. energy landscape, but now even the federal government has been forced to acknowledge that its projections for the biofuel simply don't match reality. Published April 23, 2014

FILE - This Jan. 9, 2009, file photo shows equipment inside a pilot plant in Scotland, S.D., that turns corn cob into cellulosic ethanol, a precursor to a commercial-scale biorefinery planned for Emmetsburg, Iowa. Biofuels made from corn leftovers after harvest are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term, challenging the Obama administration's conclusions that they are a cleaner oil alternative from the start and will help climate change. (AP Photo/Dirk Lammers, File)

EPA biofuel mandate scaled back to reflect reality

By Associated Press

The Obama administration is significantly reducing the amount of cellulosic biofuelsrefiners will have to prove they blended into gasoline last year, acknowledging that the market lagged far behind government projections. Published April 23, 2014

President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, April 18, 2014, where he presented the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy to the United States Naval Academy football team. The Obama administration is extending indefinitely the amount of time federal agencies have to review the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department said Friday, likely punting the decision over the controversial oil pipeline past the midterm elections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Obama's Keystone decision called 'gutless' by top union

By Lachlan Markay — The Washington Free Beacon

A top labor union blasted the Obama administration on Friday over what it described as a nakedly political decision to once again delay a decision on the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Published April 22, 2014

** FILE ** Jeff May of Staunton works to get an oversized fish kite back into the air after the wind disappeared long enough for it to fall back to earth during the "Kites and Critters" event in Staunton, Va., on Sunday, April 13, 2014. (AP Photo/The News Leader, Mike Tripp)

Climate change causing fish to lose their minds, researchers say

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

Climate change's latest casualty appears to be fish — or more specifically, fish brains — as researchers say the carbon dioxide that's being absorbed into the ocean is causing the scaly creatures to lose their survival instincts. Published April 16, 2014

FILE - In this April 3, 2014 file photo giant machines dig for brown coal at the open-cast mining Garzweiler in front of a smoking power plant near the city of Grevenbroich in western Germany. The U.N.’s expert panel on climate change is preparing a new report this weekend outlining the cuts in greenhouse gases, mainly CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels, required in coming decades to keep global warming in check. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

EPA didn't track own air pollution program — report

By Phillip Swarts - The Washington Times

The Environmental Protection Agency hasn't bothered to track whether one of its key pollution reduction programs is actually having an effect, according to a new review by the agency's internal watchdog. Published April 16, 2014

Ramon Pichs Madruga, Co-Chairman of the IPCC Working Group III, Ottmar Edenhofer, Co-Chairman of the IPCC Working Group III, and Rejendra K. Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC, from left, pose prior to a press conference as part of a meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, April 13, 2014. The panel met from April 7, 2014 until April 12, 2014 in the German capital. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

U.N. climate experts call for 'near zero' emissions, global taxes

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

Climate change experts affiliated with the United Nations said the only way to turn back the clock on global warming-type disasters is to force all the nations of the world to keep all production and energy activities to a "near zero" carbon emission level — and to mandate taxes and fees across the world. Published April 14, 2014

Death by solar farms: 71 species of birds killed, 'entire food chains' disrupted

By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times

A new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds that solar facilities in California are acting like "mega traps" that kill and injure birds. As a result, "entire food chains" are being disrupted. Published April 11, 2014

Ohio geologists link seismic activity to fracking

By Julie Carr Smyth - Associated Press

State geologists in Ohio have for the first time linked earthquake activity in the Marcellus Shale basin to hydraulic fracturing, confirming the suspicions of activists pushing for drilling limits in the interest of public health. Published April 11, 2014

Lawyer Steven Donziger, right, speaks to Huaorani women during this first day of the trial against Chevron-Texaco, in Lago Agrio, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003. A decade after Texaco pulled out of the Amazon jungle, the U.S. petroleum giant went on trial Tuesday in a lawsuit filed on behalf of 30,000 poor Ecuadoreans who say the company's 20 years of drilling poisoned their homeland. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Environmental firm cited in Chevron fraud case got federal contracts

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times

The environmental consulting firm accused by a judge of assisting "egregious fraud" by plaintiffs in the highly publicized lawsuit against Chevron Corp. successively received multimillion-dollar contracts from the U.S. government, including work on the infamous BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Published April 10, 2014

** FILE ** President Obama reacts during an Oval Office meeting. (credit: White House photo/Pete Souza)

Friendly fire: A dozen Dems hound Obama for Keystone pipeline decision

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Nearly a dozen Democratic senators on Thursday pleaded with President Obama to make a decision on the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline by the end of next month. Published April 10, 2014

Remote Alaskan villages rely on air travel for access to major hospitals. In King Cove, however, the Interior Department has refused to allow a 10-mile gravel road to the airport at Cold Bay. Nineteen people have died there in airplane crashes at a makeshift airport in King Cove, some of them emergency responders and patients attempting to reach the regional hospital in Anchorage. (Associated Press)

Alaska to sue Interior Department for road to reach medical aid

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell announced Monday that the state will sue the Obama administration to allow construction of a 10-mile road to give residents of a remote fishing village access to emergency medical flights at an all-weather airport. Published April 7, 2014

** FILE ** Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is releasing a sequel to "An Inconvenient Truth," his 2006 Academy Award-winning documentary on climate change. Details are forthcoming. (Associated Press)

Americans show little concern about climate change: Gallup poll

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

Most Americans continue to show low levels of concern about climate change, with little more than a third saying they worry "a great deal" about it. Published April 4, 2014

** FILE ** In this Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014, file photo, a salesmen at a car dealer digs out cars covered in snow at a dealership in Indianapolis, as temperatures hovered around zero. The subzero cold followed inches of snow and high winds that made traveling treacherous. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Indiana air quality deputy smacked down for climate warming joke

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

An Indiana assistant commissioner who works for the state's Department of Environmental Management has learned a harsh lesson from colleagues who are fast in the middle of the climate change crowd: Don't make jokes about global warming. Published April 4, 2014

**FILE** Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, holds a climate change report as she speaks at a climate workshop sponsored by The Climate Center at Georgetown University, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

EPA under fire for using humans as guinea pigs for pollution tests

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

A newly released report from the EPA's Office of the Inspector General reported that agency officials weren't exactly forthcoming when it came to explaining the full extent of the negative effects of its pollution experiments involving human test subjects. Published April 3, 2014

Workers and volunteers search for articles and belongings at the scene of the deadly March 22 mudslide, Monday, March 31, 2014, in Oso, Wash. The number of confirmed dead has reached 24. More than two dozen people remain missing, authorities have said. (AP Photo/The Herald, Sofia Jaramillo, Pool)

Washington governor asks for disaster aid as mudslide death toll climbs

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee asked the federal government to issue a disaster declaration for the state, just after the confirmed death toll from the recent mudslides hit 24. Published April 1, 2014

A man picks up fallen goods at a CVS store after an earthquake on Friday, March 28, 2014, in La Mirada, Calif. A magnitude-5.1 earthquake was widely felt in the Los Angeles area and surrounding counties Friday evening, but authorities said there were no immediate reports of significant damages or injuries. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Experts ID fault that could unleash 'earthquake from hell' on L.A.

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

A fault that runs beneath the ground of Los Angeles that sent the city on unsteady ground over the weekend could actually be the one that causes the massive earthquake that devastates the entire community, experts warned. Published March 31, 2014

Heaven and hell: A mudslide has devastated Oso, Wash., a type of community that has become popular among retirees. (Associated Press)

In wild West, growing battle of man vs. nature

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

The deadly mudslide in Washington state offers a grim perspective on an issue bedeviling the West: homebuyers who move beyond the suburbs and build their houses up against, and even into, the wilderness. Published March 27, 2014

In this Feb. 10, 2014, photo, a farmer shows a cluster of dead snails prior to being prepared for planting at a rice field in Calamba city, Laguna province, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Manila, Philippines. The aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines has added urgency to finding a solution to a longstanding problem: Less than 10 percent of farmers have crop insurance, and while its advantages are widely understood, few can afford it. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

U.N. climate author withdraws because the report has become 'too alarmist'

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

One of the authors of a U.N. draft report on climate change pulled out of the writing team, saying his colleagues were pulling too far to the left and issuing unfounded "alarmist" claims at the expense of real solutions. Published March 27, 2014

Alaskans battle for survival against feds' protection of migratory birds

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Washington's refusal to allow a 10-mile gravel road between King Cove and the airport at Cold Bay is a matter of life or death for Alaskans who rely on quick access to airports and hospital flights as much as migratory birds rely on the eel grass that the Interior Department would rather preserve. Published March 26, 2014

Roads along the Yalu River are inundated by floodwaters in Dandong in northeast China's Liaoning province on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010. The Yalu, which marks China's border with North Korea, breached a dike Saturday after torrential rains, forcing the evacuation of more than 94,000 people. (AP Photos/Xinhua News Agency, Zhao Guiliang)

U.N. blames humans for wild weather patterns of 2013

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

A weather agency affiliated with the United Nations said in a report on Monday that humans are mostly to blame for the wild forecasts that rocked around the world in 2013. Published March 24, 2014

$A worker helps monitor water pumping pressure and temperature at a hydraulic fracturing and extraction site outside Rifle, in western Colorado. The increased use of fracking has raised concerns that the chemicals used could seep into groundwater, either through faulty wells or if it is not disposed of properly. (Associated Press)$

Fracking initiatives start to fracture Colorado

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

A gusher of proposed ballot initiatives on hydraulic fracturing is poised to flood the November ballot as Colorado digs in for a gritty election battle between the oil and gas industry and environmentalists. Published March 24, 2014

Fake CIA agent helped craft sweeping environmental rules while at EPA

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

A former high-ranking EPA staffer convicted of stealing nearly $900,000 by pretending to be a CIA spy played a key role in sweeping environmental regulations, according to a report Senate Republicans released Wednesday. Published March 19, 2014

** FILE ** In this Feb. 28, 2014, file photo, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy discusses proposed regulations with coal industry leaders at Dakota Gasification Synfuels Plant in Beulah, N.D. (AP Photo/Kevin Cederstrom, file)

HURT: $75K a day over a pond: Your corrupt EPA thugs at work

By Charles Hurt

If a man's home is his castle, then his land is his kingdom. Published March 18, 2014

EPA arms Democrats with data, snubs Republicans

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

With midterm elections not far off, Democratic opposition researchers are armed with thousands of pages of records obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency, far outpacing known Republican efforts to pry information loose from the agency. Published March 18, 2014

Walking a tightrope: Sen. Mark Begich is facing fights over environmental issues in his re-election bid as he tries to balance Democratic ideals with energy development in a conservative state. (Associated Press)

Climate change talk brings chills to Alaska Democrat; GOP exploits issue in oil-rich states

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

The Senate Democrats' decision to issue a national wake-up call on climate change didn't exactly come at a great time for Democrats like Sen. Mark Begich. Published March 17, 2014

** FILE ** Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican. (Associated Press)

Senators deluged by complaints void 2-year-old flood insurance plan before 10-day break

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Just two years after it fixed the federal flood insurance program to make homeowners pay premiums commensurate with their risk, Congress on Thursday reversed some of those reforms, bowing to political pressure from constituents shocked at how high their premiums jumped. Published March 13, 2014

FILE - In this June 7, 2013 file photo, surfers pass in front of the San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Onofre, Calif. More than two years after the San Onofre nuclear power plant stopped production, state regulators planned to make a major decision toward filling the hole left as they consider a proposal on Thursday March 13, 2014. The proposal would allow the plant's co-owners to find replacement power. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Calif. green energy fails to fill void left by closed nuclear plant; regulators seek new options

By Associated Press

California regulators Thursday approved a plan for two utilities to develop replacement power to help fill the void left by the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant, but environmentalists warned it could open the way for more dirty energy. Published March 13, 2014

Recent Opinion Columns

Illustration by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

FEULNER: The energy potential of fracking

By Ed Feulner - The Washington Times

Say you were a politician and there was a clean and abundant domestic energy source -- one that has the potential to create jobs and revitalize local economies. Would you do more to encourage it? Published February 19, 2013

Illustration: Green jobs by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

EDITORIAL: Green power to the people

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES - The Washington Times

Energy is the key to America's economic future. In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Obama promised to fundamentally transform the nation into one increasingly dependent on sunshine and breezes to power the economy. Published February 14, 2013

Illustration by Greg Groesch for The Washington Times

HARRIS: Obama's path toward energy poverty

By Tom Harris

In his inaugural address last week, President Obama demonstrated that he is putting people at risk with misguided climate and energy policies. Published January 30, 2013

Illustration by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

HOLT: International relations get a jolt from U.S. energy

By David Holt

There is an energy revolution under way in the United States. Booming oil and natural gas production is transforming our economic outlook, ushering newfound wealth to our rural areas and providing high-paying jobs for middle-class workers across the country. Published January 23, 2013

OVERBECK: Damon's 'Promised Land' ignores EPA, touts fracking myths

By Joy Overbeck

Matt Damon wanted to do a hit piece on fracking, the process by which natural gas is extracted from shale deposits deep in the ground. Published January 4, 2013

EDITORIAL: Fracking flick channels science fiction

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES - The Washington Times

If you don't have the facts on your side, make some up. That's Hollywood's typical scheme for pushing its left-wing views on American audiences. Published January 1, 2013

From The Vault

U.S. oil production tops imports for first time in nearly 2 decades
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times
Claiming a key victory in the fight to escape reliance on foreign fuel, the Obama administration announced Wednesday that domestic oil production surpassed imports for the first time in nearly two decades. Published November 13, 2013
Shades of Solyndra: Team Obama mum as another green energy firm went bust
By Tim Devaney - The Washington Times
Failing to heed the lessons of the Solyndra debacle, Energy Department officials kept quiet about their knowledge that a government-backed electric car charger company was sliding toward bankruptcy and putting taxpayer money at risk, the agency's chief watchdog has found. Published November 5, 2013
Keystone XL debate resurfaces, gets entangled in debt-ceiling battle
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times
The Keystone XL pipeline has been knocked out of the headlines in recent weeks, but debate over the project found new life on Capitol Hill this week. Published September 19, 2013
Energy Department 'green' project comes in at twice the estimated cost: report
By Phillip Swarts - The Washington Times
The Energy Department's latest biomass plant is seeing plenty of green — it's environmentally friendly and it's costing taxpayers a wad of money. Published September 11, 2013
As N.Y. fracking ban drags on, leading energy company backs out
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times
In a possible sign that New York State won't be allowing fracking anytime soon, drilling giant Chesapeake Energy reportedly has abandoned its fight to retain land leases in portions of the state sitting atop vast natural gas reserves. Published August 7, 2013
Obama administration pumps unprecedented power into EPA
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times
With the Environmental Protection Agency set to take on an even broader regulatory role in the years ahead, a report released Wednesday shows the agency's footprint already is at a historic high. Published June 26, 2013
BP challenges 'fictitious' claims from Gulf oil spill
By Associated Press
BP is seeking to stop paying millions of dollars in what it calls spurious compensation claims stemming from the catastrophic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Published May 16, 2013
Shale oil find fuels boom in U.S. business
By Patrice Hill - The Washington Times
To John LaRue, the renaissance in U.S. manufacturing is no dream. It's already here. Published April 11, 2013
New science guidelines tell states how to teach climate change, evolution
By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times
It's been almost 17 years, but educators have called for national teaching guidelines for science in schools around the nation — and they want part of the curriculum to focus on climate change and evolution. Published April 10, 2013
Gas prices might soar because of EPA renewable fuels mandate, Congress warns
By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times
Congress is warning gas prices — already on the upswing, these past few weeks — could go even higher, given an Environmental Protection Agency mandate on renewable fuels that's about to take effect. Published March 19, 2013
Think tanks link Arab Spring to global warming
By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times
Several think tanks will hold a conference Thursday linking the Arab Spring to global warming. Published February 25, 2013
Investigating fracking becomes business of its own
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times
Millions of dollars already have been spent, and much more soon will be dumped into a litany of studies looking at fracking's impact on water and air quality and at possible links to cancer and other diseases. Published February 19, 2013

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