A record amount of US corn-based ethanol is being exported, despite the PR campaign touting ethanol as a domestic alternative to importing foreign oil. The reason: a Congress-passed tax credit for blending ethanol with gasoline. The credit -- a giveaway adding at least $6 billion to the federal deficit -- is scheduled to expire this year.
"General Electric Co plans to buy 25,000 electric vehicles from makers including General Motors Co over the next five years, in a move it said could spark demand for the charging equipment it sells."
"The Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it has issued a subpoena to Halliburton for not revealing information about liquids used in a natural gas drilling technique called 'fracking.'"
"Arizona Public Service Co. plans to partially close one of the nation's dirtiest coal-fired power generators, the Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico, company officials said Monday."
"Abolishing fossil fuel subsidies would boost the world's economy, environment and energy security, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, referring to a pledge made by G20 countries."
"Eager to win approval for its stalled plan to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, Royal Dutch Shell is beginning a public lobbying campaign, including national advertising, on Monday."
New York state is strewn with abandoned wells -- the relics of drilling booms before the current gas bonanza. Their owners are long gone, but they have left a legacy of pollution, sticking taxpayers with the cleanup costs.
"Solyndra, a Silicon Valley solar-panel maker that won half a billion dollars in federal aid to build a state-of-the-art robotic factory, plans to announce on Wednesday that it will shut down an older plant and lay off workers."
"The coal industry, facing a host of new health and safety regulations, is spending millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign donations this year to influence the makeup of the next Congress in hopes of derailing what one industry official called an Obama administration 'regulatory jihad.'"
"Pipeline leaks, like one that cut U.S. crude imports last month and pushed oil prices up $4 a barrel, may become more frequent as the U.S. delays safety reforms on its aging 2.5 million mile network of energy lines."
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