Energy & Fuel

"NORTHFIELD, Mass. — Standing on a dirt road outside his aging barn, Walter Jaworski, a former veterinarian turned cattle rancher in this rural part of north-central Massachusetts, points south across his 200 acres of forest and pasture to a nearby tree line. If things don’t go his way, he says, that’s about where a new natural gas pipeline will slice through his land on a 180-mile journey from central New York to a transmission hub north of Boston."

"A coalition of green groups plan to urge President Obama and senators to oppose a bill reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank over its roll-back of restrictions for financing overseas coal plants."

"Over the past five years, the Obama administration has repeatedly called for cutting fossil fuel subsidies in the form of tax breaks and other incentives. But the amount of money the federal government forfeits through subsidies has increased steadily over that time period, reaching $18.5 billion last year, according to a new report from the environmental group Oil Change International."

"Coal has assumed out-sized importance in the upcoming election as a devastating sequence of mine shut downs and job losses in eastern Kentucky have put the region up for grabs"

"Two U.S. farm-state Senators on Wednesday urged federal regulators to investigate allegations raised by a biofuel trade group that the oil industry uses "strong arm tactics" to prevent widespread use of higher blends of ethanol in gasoline."

"The European Union is making its desire to import more oil and natural gas from the United States very clear in the course of discussions over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal, according to a new leaked document."

"Scientists at the University of Manitoba say they have linked pollution in the oilsands to elevated cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan for the first time."

"It was the state’s worst industrial accident in nearly 50 years."

"The noise is part spaceship, part jet engine and part Tron bike, according to Alex Tai, the head of Virgin’s Formula E racing team. The high-powered, all-electric cars zooming around the Donington Park race track are certainly far quieter than the chest-rumbling, ear-splitting noise that hits Formula One fans."

"Kinder Morgan’s plans to expand a pipeline pose major environmental threats -- especially to whale populations still reeling from past oil spills and noise pollution."