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Amy Harder

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Drilling regulator blasts oil industry

September 13, 2011 The nation's top oil and gas drilling regulator on Tuesday criticized the industry for making repeated claims that the federal government is "slow-walking" on getting companies back to work in the Gulf of Mexico following the BP oil spill last year. "I continue to be disappointed to see politically motivated, ...

IG report criticizes NRC chairman over Yucca Mountain decision process

June 10, 2011 The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission made unilateral decisions to shut down Yucca Mountain and didn't fully inform the other commissioners about his actions, according to a critical report released on Friday by the commission's inspector general. NRC Chair Gregory Jaczko "was not forthcoming with the other Commissioners about ...

Nuclear industry faces regulatory setback

May 23, 2011 The nuclear industry was dealt a major blow Friday when its top federal regulatory agency announced it was delaying the approval of the most-popular reactor design pending before the agency. The design is included in six out of a total of 13 pending applications at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission right ...

One year after the BP spill: What's changed and what hasn't

April 20, 2011 One year ago Wednesday, BP's Macondo well exploded and spilled what ended up being approximately 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the worst spill ever in U.S. waters, far eclipsing the 53 million gallons spilled when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground in 1989. ...

Interior: Cape wind approval sends a signal

April 19, 2011 A controversial offshore wind farm project in Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound could begin construction as soon as this fall, after clearing a major regulatory hurdle on Tuesday. Top Interior Department officials approved the construction and operating plan for Cape Wind, and underscored the signal this approval will send to other offshore ...

Administration issues new coal leases amid uncertain policy landscape

March 23, 2011 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar trekked to Wyoming on Tuesday to announce major new coal leases in the state. Yet there are no plans to build new coal-fired power plants there because of the uncertainty surrounding the Obama administration's climate-change regulations. The coal from the leases will be used to generate ...

First post-spill deep-water drilling permit approved

March 1, 2011 The Obama administration approved on Monday the first deep-water drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico since it banned the practice in light of last year's massive BP oil spill. The permit is going to Noble Energy, an independent oil and gas company that operates in the Gulf's deep waters ...

House Republicans pressure Obama on drilling permits

February 24, 2011 House Republicans are pressuring the Interior Department to more quickly issue drilling permits in light of an industry-run report that found oil companies can safely operate in deep water. In a letter to President Obama, 51 members of the House GOP play up the report, which was conducted by the ...

House spending bill's deep cuts to EPA set negotiating point with Senate

February 22, 2011 The House spending bill that passed on Saturday slashes $3 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency's fiscal 2011 budget and blocks the agency from enacting carbon emission regulations through the end of September. But that's just the beginning. More than a dozen amendments passed throughout the week make deep cuts ...

Interior, oil industry cope with strained relationship

February 18, 2011 The Obama administration and the oil and gas industry have a reluctant symbiotic relationship. The government reaps billions of dollars in revenue every year from companies producing oil and gas in federal waters and on federal lands. And the industry needs the government to ensure a timely, smooth permitting process ...