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Xcel Energy Inc. will seek to phase out subsidies for solar power and spend more to help customers conserve energy in Minnesota. The Minneapolis-based utility said Friday that it will reduce spending on its popular Minnesota Solar Rewards program to $2.5 million in 2013 -- half its current level -- before its elimination. The program has helped 560 Minnesota homes and businesses install solar arrays since 2010. Xcel Energy Inc. will seek to phase out subsidies for solar power and spend more to help customers conserve energy in Minnesota. The Minneapolis-based utility said Friday that it will reduce spending on...

Apparently elections in Huron County's Lake Township don't mean much. In February, Lake Township voters struck down a zoning ordinance that would allow wind turbines to operate near their homes by better than a 61 percent to 39 percent margin. Yet, there's a good chance township residents will have to live next to the turbines anyway. On May 21, the Lake Township board began a process to transfer about 4,000 acres to a neighboring township (Chandler), which has zoning that allows wind turbines. There is no way Lake Township voters could stop the transfer if the township officials go through...

Massive natural gas discoveries along with new extraction techniques have led many to claim nat gas as the fuel of the future – which could ensure U.S. energy independence, reduce geopolitical risks, and help meet U.S. electricity demands for the next 575 years. Yet why have we seen so many negative publications and reports? Does natural gas really have a place in our future and is it the golden chalice we have been led to believe? To help us investigate these issues and others we were fortunate enough to have a chat with the well known author and energy trader...

The natural gas drilling boom spreading across the U.S. could spark a revival in U.S. manufacturing and may lead to more than 1 million jobs by 2025, according to a group of economists. Robert McCutcheon, an economist with consulting group PwC, said at a manufacturing summit in Cleveland that natural gas could provide manufacturing companies a cheap source of energy that ultimately could save them $11.5 billion in energy costs by 2025. “If we save $11.5 billion, that’s investment capital that could be redirected elsewhere,” he said. A study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found low-cost energy could create as many 1 million...

The sorry saga continues, as the Obama administration is intent on getting their way in everything and by any means possible. In January of 2011 I reported that the EPA had revoked the permit for an already-in-use coal mine in West Virginia, the Spruce Mine to be specific operated by Arch Coal, citing “violations of the Clean Air Act.” This unprecedented action struck fear in the hearts of not only coal companies who have invested millions of dollars and time into securing the necessary permits, but other business owners as well. After all, why would they want to invest in...

Actually, I know the answer to my own question. The answer is manyfold: Hussein has lifted the drilling moratorium; Hussein approved Keystone; Hussein has opened domestic exploration, drilling, and production; Hussein has opened the "strategic reserve"; Hussein didn't actually "invest" all those billions in Brazil's, etc. petroleum industries, he invested it our petroleum industry; Hussein Obama pees oil thereby increasing domestic supply driving the price down; isn't Obama wonderful? NOT I'm not an industry economist so what did I miss? Don't tell me it's all because of Memorial Day and summer's arrival, that doesn't make sense. This is not an...

June is usually a sleepy month during any presidential election, but not this year. Two events this month will not only affect the outcome of the presidential election, but also have a dramatic impact on the direction of the country, no matter who wins in November. On June 5, Wisconsin voters will decide whether or not to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker. The vote will be the culmination of an 18-month campaign by big labor to thwart Walker's public sector union reforms, which are already loosening the stranglehold that the unions had on state and local budgets. With just a...

Alan Krueger, head of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, pointed out that the country has added jobs for 27 months in a row, including 4.3 million jobs in the private sector. The economy still has a few bright spots. Americans bought cars and trucks a strong pace last month, giving automakers their best May since 2008. Underscoring the challenge for Obama with five months to go in the campaign, a May poll by The Associated Press and GfK, a research company, showed that 52 percent disapproved of Obama's handling of the economy while 46 percent approved. Some financial analysts...

The Muslim Brotherhood, a group that was once thought virtually extinct in Syria, has surprised everyone by staging a comeback. The Islamist group is, according to Reuters, a “dominant force� in the Syrian opposition. Similarly, in Egypt, the MB has become perhaps the most powerful group in the wake of the Revolution.This doesn’t sit well with everyone in the American conservative movement, and two factions are vying to define the Republican response to the increased power of political Islam. Leading what might be called the ‘to-hell-with-democracy’ strain of thought is Andrew McCarthy, a national-security columnist for National Review and senior...

An Israel energy company announced Sunday it has discovered an off-shore energy field that may even surpass previous finds in terms of the possibilities of developing commercial grade oil. Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP announced that its Pelagic licenses indicate 6.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas and 1.4 billion barrels of oil. By comparison, the previously announced Tamar and Leviathan off-shore fields contain an estimated 9 and 17 TCF of natural gas. The amount of commercial oil, if any, has not been finalized, but estimates of possible oil in the Leviathan field have been downsized to 600 million barrels....

There's some good news behind the discouraging headlines on the economy: Gas is getting cheaper. At least two states had stations selling gas for $2.99 on Friday and it could fall below $3 in more areas over the weekend. A plunge in oil prices has knocked more than 30 cents off the price of a gallon of gas in most parts of the U.S. since early April. The national average is now $3.61. Experts predict further decline in the next few weeks.

The offshore drilling industry is struggling to find younger labor as its workforce ages. Companies are finding that a lack of skilled job candidates isn't their only problem. Many applicants are washing out due to drug use. Ask Hercules Offshore CEO John Rynd why it’s so hard to find skilled workers for offshore drilling and he’ll talk about hefty competition from shore-based employers. There’s a big demand for workers on land-based wells, thanks to the hydraulic fracturing revolution. The rise of auto manufacturing along the Gulf Coast means workers that traditionally formed part of the offshore labor pool are now...

The waters of the Blue Nile have for millennia flowed down from the Ethiopian highlands enriching the countries on its banks. The rocks that make up its riverbed have been eroded by Ethiopia's past and now that the construction of Africa's largest hydro-electric dam has begun, these same rocks are helping to build the country's future. The Grand Renaissance Dam project was announced last year by the Ethiopian government, in a unilateral move that is not sitting very well with its upstream neighbors. Egypt and Sudan say Ethiopia is threatening their greatest natural resource. If construction stays on schedule the...

Exxon Mobil Corp. is planning a multibillion-dollar petrochemical expansion at its Baytown complex to take advantage of the country’s increasing supplies of natural gas. “The proposed investment reflects Exxon Mobil’s continued confidence in the natural gas-driven revitalization of the U.S. chemical industry,” the company said in a statement. The project would include a new ethane unit, which would provide ethylene feedstock for two new polyethylene production lines at the company’s nearby Mont Belvieu plastics plant. Polyethylene is used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products. Exxon Mobil joins other petrochemicals producers that have announced natural gas-fueled expansion plans...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on the future of oil exploration in the U.S. and the importance of the Keystone Pipeline.

The gusher of economic activity flowing from the boom in North Dakota’s Oil Patch often is reflexively credited with single-handedly driving the state’s impressive growth. But figures from Job Service North Dakota make it clear that the robust prosperity and employment growth are occurring statewide. The 24,059 job openings listed online at Job Service as of April reflect a jump of 66 percent over a year ago — and two-thirds of the opportunities are outside the state’s oil-producing counties. The fact that two of every three job openings are outside the Oil Patch often is lost in the hubbub surrounding...

chool officials in the northwestern North Dakota oil patch say they are in a state of emergency because of an influx of students and need state help. Schools might need as much as $200 million to handle as many as 3,000 new students next year, Stanley Superintendent Kent Hjelmstad told state legislators during a Thursday meeting in Williston. The amount is double the estimate in a recent study done by a Bismarck consultant at the request of Gov. Jack Dalrymple. Hjelmstad said needs include new buildings, additional staff, more buses, support for a growing special education population, teacher housing and...

Published on Jun 1, 2012 by mittromney Two years ago, President Obama went to Solyndra and touted it as an example of his initiative to create jobs. Today, the company is bankrupt and the building stands empty as a symbol of the failure of President Obama's

AP Photo Mitt Romney arrived at the shuttered headquarters of Solyndra Inc. this morning, a surprise visit that was shrouded in secrecy and part of the presumptive GOP presidential candidate’s attack on President Obama’s record on jobs creation.“Two years ago President Obama was here to tout this building and this business as a symbol of the success of his stimulus,� said Romney, stepping off a bus and onto the public sidewalk in front of the Solyndra buildings just outside Silicon Valley. “Well you can see that it’s a symbol of something very different today.� Read More About Solyndra from ABC’s...

A simple three-step chemical reaction which could herald the introduction of new sustainable feedstocks for the chemical industry has been developed by scientists at The University of Nottingham. Scientists in the School of Chemistry have developed a recyclable system for converting carbon monoxide (CO) directly into more complicated organic molecules using depleted uranium. The research, funded by the Royal Society and European Research Council, was led by Dr. Stephen Liddle, an expert in inorganic chemistry. Details of the new procedure — which can return the molecule that performs the transformation back to its start point — have been published in...

With the ceremonial opening of a valve Thursday, Motiva, a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco, celebrated the completion of a five-year construction project doubling the capacity of its Port Arthur. When working at its peak, the Port Arthur refinery will be able to process 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it the largest refinery in the United States. “With the completion of this massive expansion, the Port Arthur Refinery alone would be capable of meeting the entire gasoline demand of France, Italy or all of Scandinavia,” said Khalid Al-Falih, CEO of Saudi Aramco, at...

The ghosts of dead presidents will be coming soon to Houston movie theaters. The appearance of former presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan before summer blockbusters comes courtesy of a new campaign by the American Clean Skies Foundation, a natural gas advocacy group. In ads running in Landmark Theaters in Houston, New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., the group uses old footage of the presidents giving historic speeches at pivotal moments to highlight President Barack Obama’s decision to tout a 100-year supply of natural gas during his 2012 State of...

A crude oil pipeline that will run 485 miles from Cushing, Okla., to Southeast Texas should be under construction by late summer and operational in late 2013. TransCanada, the builder of the Keystone Pipeline, is looking for workers, vendors and suppliers to help support the $2.3 billion project. On Tuesday, TransCanada conducted a registration workshop in Beaumont, similar to others it has sponsored in other areas along the route. "We'll need supplies, goods and services," TransCanada spokesman Jim Prescott said, listing fuel, tires, oil and welding sticks. And, he said, "We anticipate it will create about 4,000 direct construction jobs...

Analysis: Shale energy boom dangles prospect of leap in economic growthBy Jason Lange | Reuters – Thu, May 24, 2012 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - America's reliance on fuel imports has sucked vigor from its economy for decades. Now an oil and natural gas boom holds out the prospect for a new era of stronger U.S. economic growth. Vast reserves of natural gas and oil unlocked from underground shale deposits have slashed the price of U.S. natural gas to a fraction of costs in Europe and Asia, making it some of the cheapest energy in the world. That is cutting production costs...

Serious question, greenies: is a nation justified in completely running its economy into the ground, with all of the hardship and heartache that ensues, if it’s all for the sake of instilling the populace with what the government deems necessary environmental virtue? Saddled with a budget deficit more than twice the European Union limit and a ballooning gap between income and costs in its power system, Spain halted subsidies for new renewable-energy projects in January. The surprise move by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy one month after taking office helped pierce investor confidence in stable aid for clean energy acrossEurope. “They destroyed the Spanish market...

Global exploitation of shale gas reserves could transform the world's energy supply by lowering prices, improving security and even curbing forecast carbon dioxide emissions, but the industry might be stopped in its tracks if it doesn't work harder to resolve concerns over its environmental safety, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Tuesday. The IEA's report shows how the shale gas industry, which has already dramatically altered the energy landscape in the US, stands at a tipping point that will determine how it spreads across the rest of the world. "If the social and environmental impacts aren't addressed properly, there is...

Spanish company Repsol has said it is pulling out of Cuba after failing in a recent attempt to find oil off the island. Chairman Antonio Brufau told journalists and investors that Repsol "won't do another" well in Cuba. On 18 May Repsol announced an exploratory well it had drilled north of the Cuban coast had come up dry. Cuba's communist government is relying on potentially huge oil and gas reserves to revive the economy. Repsol's unsuccessful attempt, some 50km (31 miles) off the island, cost the company more than $100m (£155m). The decision to stop operations in Cuba was announced...

Euro-zone Crisis Will Hit Russia Hard Economics / Russia May 28, 2012 - 07:38 AM By: Pravda The political collapse in Greece and Moody's downgrade of the rankings of 16 Spanish banks at once have led to the decline in stock indexes all over the world. In Russia, the head of the Central Bank, Sergei Ignatiev, showed an optimistic reaction to such unpleasant news. Making a speech at the government last week, the official urged everyone not to panic. According to him, Russia is prepared to the crisis much better than it was four years ago. Economists say, though, that...

Oil rose above $107 per barrel on Monday as fears of a euro zone break-up receded but Middle East oil supply worries resurfaced after minimal progress in talks over Iran's nuclear programme. Opinion polls suggested Greece's pro-bailout conservatives could win elections on June 17, keeping the country in the euro zone and making a swift collapse of the currency bloc less likely. Fears of a war in the Gulf that could threaten global oil supplies have returned after world powers failed to convince Iran last week to halt its most sensitive nuclear work. Tension between Iran and the West remains...

Two weeks ago, the Obama campaign quietly edited its website to highlight the president’s support for “clean coal.� In place of a section for “energy efficiency� with no mention of coal, BarackObama.com now boasts that the stimulus package “invested substantially in carbon capture and sequestration research.� The administration’s position on coal has, shall we say, evolved. In 2001, the EPA released an endangerment finding stating that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide threaten public health and the environment by contributing to climate change and that therefore they could be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Since then, as Bryan Walsh...

Professor Byron Kohut helps hundreds of low-income adults land coveted jobs in the booming shale-gas industry in Pennsylvania. But only the tough need apply, he said. "If they are not physically capable of working outside, in bad weather, dangerous conditions, I scare them out of drilling," said Kohut, who coordinates a natural-gas job-training course at Westmoreland County Community College, about 40 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. "It's not easy work," Kohut said, adding that people with backgrounds in agriculture, construction and mechanics have a better shot at getting in. The community college's course, part of a workforce-development program funded by a...

The Eagle Ford shale drilling boom has boosted wages and job growth, and the increased drilling in 23 South Texas counties will likely have a continued impact on the state, according to a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. According to the report released this week, the drilling boom has increased wages by more than 14 percent, job growth rose by nearly 6 percent and retail sales jumped 9.3 percent in 23 South Texas counties. Live Oak and McMullen counties, which sit directly above natural gas liquids and oil deposits, benefited the most from the drilling boom,...

May 22 (Reuters) - Germany's Wintershall, the oil and gas arm of chemicals group BASF, confirmed an oil discovery off Norway near the Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in a statement on Tuesday. "The well encountered a 39-metre thick oil column in the Garn formation with reservoir and reservoir quality as expected," it said. "Preliminary calculations confirm earlier resource estimates, though at the upper end of the discovery estimate," it added. An earlier estimate for the discovery was for between 10 and 20 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil and between 2 and...

Bangladesh has struck its first oil, in two gas fields in the northeastern Sylhet region, the chairman of the state-run Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) has said. "This is first time that we have found economically viable oil resources, estimated at about 153 million barrels, in the two gas fields, 280km from the capital," Mohammad Hussain Monsur told reporters on Sunday, adding that production could begin within a year.

Claims are coming from Iran of the discovery of new Caspian Sea oil reserves. If confirmed, it would be the first discovery of new reserves in the area for over 100 years. Using the Amir Kabir semi-submersible rig, the Khazar Exploration and Production Company has estimated the size of the find at around 10 billion barrels and according to Iran’s oil ministry, the oil is high quality. The offshore reserves are described as deepwater, but an exact depth has not been given. According to Khazar, the find is completely within Iranian territorial waters. The Caspian Sea is also bordered by...

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Spanish-Chinese oil venture Repsol Sinopec announced Thursday it has discovered a large hydrocarbon reserve in the pre-salt layer of the Campos Basin, off Brazil's southeastern coast. The discovery is one of the largest finds in the world this year, the company said. The company estimates the BM-C-33 block, where the discovery was made, could hold more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The most recent discovery in the block, the Pao de Acucar (1-REPF-12D-RJS) well, is located some 195 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, in a water depth...

Italy's oil and gas major Eni has made a big oil discovery in the Western Desert of Egypt, part of the group's strategy of refocusing exploration activities in the country by targeting deeper plays in the Western Desert region. The discovery, at the Emry Deep exploration prospect, located in the Meleiha Concession 290 kilometers south west of Alexandria, is estimated at 150-250 million barrels of oil in place and will require further appraisal drilling, Eni said in a statement on Thursday. The full field development foresees an early production phase from the current well to be followed by the drilling...

BEIJING, May 24 (UPI) -- China National Offshore Oil Corp. announced Thursday it made a new oil discovery in the shallow waters of south Liaodong Bay. CNOOC announced it encountered an oil pay in its Luda 21-2 prospect with a thickness of about 550 feet, which it said was one of the thickest oil layers ever encountered in the area. Zhu Weilin, general manager for exploration at CNOOC, said in a statement the prospect has "fairly good economics in exploration and development." The prospect is located northeast of Bohai Bay, which is estimated to hold as much as 146 billion...

If new bitumen pipelines are not built to the West Coast, Alberta must opt for both new local upgrading projects, and more capacity to produce refined products which can be more easily shipped and exported, a global energy expert said Thursday. “If Northern Gateway doesn’t go ahead, or Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain to Vancouver, Alberta could produce more synthetic crude to move east to Sarnia and beyond. Another option is more local refining, and certainly there is strong local demand for diesel,” said Robert Johnston, director of global energy and natural resources for the Eurasia Group, at the PricewaterhouseCoopers Energy Visions...

The Alaska Business Report Card was released today and not surprisingly, the group gave the Senate Majority an 'F'. The ABRC, which includes the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, Prosperity Alaska and the Resource Development Council, gave the Senate failing marks for its failure to move on the groups' legislative priorities of fiscal responsibility, oil tax reform, regulatory efficiency, litigation reform, general business climate and strategic infrastructure. The House Majority received an A-, the House Minority a D, and the four-member minority of the Senate an 'A', Gov. Sean Parnell got a 'B'. Read the...

The Environmental Protection Agency held 12 hours of stacked hearings in Washington, D.C. and Chicago on Thursday in favor of a regulation that analysts have concluded would kill the building of new conventional coal plants in the U.S. Among the participants scheduled to testify in consecutive five minute blocks throughout the day were multiple representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and environmental activists from the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace. The proposed rule, reported by The Washington Post in March, limits the amount of greenhouse gases emitted...

Energy: As coal use drops, job losses rise and electricity prices skyrocket, an electoral map of the 16 top coal-mining states does not bode well for an administration whose energy policy consists of algae and exploding electric cars. Earlier this year, Houston-based GenOn Energy Inc. announced plans to close five of its older coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania over the next four years, saying that tough new environmental rules make it unprofitable to operate the plants, which generate a total of 3,140 megawatts of electricity. The plants are in Portland, Shawville, Titus, New Castle and Elrama. Two plants in Ohio...

One of the showcase companies of the green energy movement propped up by the federal stimulus questioned in recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission whether it can survive with its mounting debt and problems with defective batteries. Yet, even with its struggles, its top executives were awarded sweetened severance packages that would give them an extra six-figures in payout if they lose their jobs. A123 Systems, which opened a Livonia lithium-ion battery plant that is to supply electric cars, has an accumulated deficit of $774 million, according to SEC filings, and stated in its quarterly report that its...

It is rare in diplomatic circles for governments to speak bluntly, particularly in the Orient, where manners are highly prized. The exceptions to this rule are retired military officers, who are often able to voice sentiments too impolitic for other channels. One of the more startling pronouncements in this vein occurred last week when Song Xiaojun, a former senior officer of the People's Liberation Army, warned that Australia cannot juggle its relationships with the United States and China indefinitely and "Australia has to find a godfather sooner or later. Australia always has to depend on somebody else, whether it is...

The most crucial Presidential election, in a lifetime, nears.  Please read what I authored.  Is this the proper direction for America, now? It is Romney, his baggage and his ideology, vs. Obama, his baggage and his ideology. What else could the election represent? It represents the future for America and our families, now and forever.  -Lance"THE ECONOMIC FUTURE FOR AMERICA IS NOW, STARTING IN 2009", (2012).By: S. Lance SilverHow are we going to pay now and in the future for our American lifestyle? It's so simple.We create money for American expenditures currently in two methods:1. by Taxation;2. by Printing;There is...

Ahmadinejad, Farrakhan & The Black Panthers: Shocking New Details on Their Meeting & the ‘Beast’ Axis That Was Forged According to New Black Panther Chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz: Envisions the “glory” of “paroling on the Israeli embassy with a hundred New Black Panthers” fighting for Palestine. Fighting white people is an “international struggle against a common enemy.” Whites are trying to “divide the non-white” population against each other Because “half of Africa” was involved in slavery “we say Africa owes us reparations, too.” Black radicals should seek “alliances that are possible right now with people who got solid track records...

Obama’s War on Coal has already taken a remarkable toll on coal-fired power plants in America. Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a shocking drop in power sector coal consumption in the first quarter of 2012. Coal-fired power plants are now generating just 36 percent of U.S. electricity, versus 44.6 percent just one year ago. It’s the result of an unprecedented regulatory assault on coal that will leave us all much poorer. Last week PJM Interconnection, the company that operates the electric grid for 13 states (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,...

Volvo Trucks unveiled last week its plans to launch a 13-liter heavy-duty natural gas engine featuring Westport high pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology. The engine, marketed under the “Blue Power” designation, is scheduled to launch for the North American market in 2014. The engine’s advanced high pressure diesel ignition technology will provide significant fuel efficiency gains compared with current natural gas products. Combined with the company’s previously announced offering of compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Volvo VNM and VNL model daycabs, the new engine will provide customers with a complete range of natural gas-powered transportation solutions. Volvo is also testing another...

Tiny Pacific nations which are most at threat from rising seas have vowed to dump diesel and other dirty expensive fuels blamed for causing global warming and replace them with clean sources. Using coconut biofuel and solar panels, Tokelau -- which consists of three island dots half way between New Zealand and Hawaii -- plans to become self-sufficient in energy this year.

Cooper Industries, a manufacturer of lighting and electrical-distribution equipment that has been run out of Houston for 47 years, will be acquired by Ohio-based Eaton Corp. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at nearly $12 billion, the companies announced Monday. “We are extremely pleased to become part of Eaton’s global electrical business,” Cooper’s locally based chairman and CEO Kirk Hachigian said in a statement. The companies expect the $11.8 billion transaction to be completed in the latter half of the year. Both sides stressed the multiple ways the companies complement each other, particularly on the growing international side of their respective...