Governors Help Launch NextGen

Oil shale hits roadblock in Senate
A U.S. Senate panel upheld a more cautious approach toward oil shale development in Colorado on Thursday when it narrowly rejected Sen. Wayne Allard's attempt to lift a moratorium on enacting new rules for commercial leases.
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'Torrent of lawsuits' could follow polar bear ruling
The government officially has declared the polar bear a threatened species in need of increased protection. But another round of legal battles surrounding the animal may be just beginning.
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A $3 trillion climate change battle
A climate-change bill that has widespread support as it heads to the Senate floor will create an estimated $150 billion of new assets in the first year it takes effect. Between now and 2050, regulating greenhouse gases could easily generate $3 trillion worth in value in the United States.
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Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically
Two decades from now Americans could get as much electricity from windmills as from nuclear power plants, according to a government report that lays out a possible plan for wind energy growth.
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EDITORIAL: Wind ($23.37) v. gas (25 cents)
Congress seems ready to spend billions on a new "Manhattan Project" for green energy, or at least the political class really, really likes talking about one. But maybe we should look at what our energy subsidy dollars are buying now.
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Wind power report favors Colorado's future in field
A report issued Monday by the federal Department of Energy - saying that wind power could meet 20 percent of the nation's needs by 2030 - could boost Colorado's fledgling wind industry.
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Big oil now seeing green
Big oil companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to research and develop alternative and renewable power sources — not only as part of the green movement, but with serious hopes of cashing in when the technologies are broadly commercialized.
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Hastings (Neb.) power plant targeted by Sierra Club
The Sierra Club says it wants to ensure the Whelan 2 Energy Plant and others have a plan in place that will limit mercury emissions.
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Vestas to build world's largest wind turbine in Colorado
Vestas Wind Systems announced its intent to build the world's largest wind turbine tower factory in Colorado.
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Energy Dept. unveils retooled plans for clean coal plants
The Energy Department unveiled its blueprint for spending up to $1.3 billion on multiple clean-coal power plants that would capture carbon emissions and permanently store them underground.
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Kansas legislature signs off session with coal bill
The Kansas Legislature sent another coal-fired power plants bill to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius before ending the wrap-up session.
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Electric cooperatives pitch environmental plan for new coal plants
Ten electric cooperatives that want to build a coal-fired power plant in eastern Georgia have come up with a program to preserve state forests and help consumers offset carbon emissions from their daily activities.
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API: U.S. oil, gas drilling costs reach all-time high
The cost of drilling and equipping oil and gas wells in the US reached an all-time high in 2006, the American Petroleum Institute reported.
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RECS program on carbon sequestration set for July
The RECS 2008 program will be held in Albuquerque, N.M., July 20-30. The program combines classroom instruction and fieldwork with a geology and power plant tour to address CCS deployment.
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Clean coal research proposals sought
A University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources task force is soliciting clean coal research proposals to improve the use of Wyoming's coal resources.
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The truth about oil
Contrary to the conventional wisdom, mankind’s oil supplies are not getting depleted, but they keep continually expanding.
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OPINION: U.S. needs to utilize its energy resources
The good news is that we have the "shale oil fields" in Colorado and Utah. This area has more than a 100- year supply of oil for the U.S.
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EDITORIAL: The biofuels backlash
St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes, and for 30 years we invoked his name as we opposed ethanol subsidies. So imagine our great, pleasant surprise to see that the world is suddenly awakening to the folly of subsidized biofuels.
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DOE takes next steps with restructured FutureGen approach
The restructured FutureGen program is a cost-shared collaboration between the government and industry to accelerate commercial deployment of IGCC or other advanced clean coal-based power generation technology with CCS.
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Shell Oil president wants more access to energy resources
The United States' reliance on foreign oil is being increased because of limits placed on where companies can search for resources, the president of Shell Oil Co. says.
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Dueling fuel philosophies on collision course
Prices at the gas pump are fueling the latest battles in Congress.
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An in-depth approach to drilling
Nonexistent just three decades ago, oil production in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico now accounts for nearly three-fourths of the offshore region's crude output and has become a vital piece of the nation's energy supply, according to a government report.
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Global investment in renewable energy reaches $100 billion, according to U.N. report
High oil prices and an array of government incentives are leading to soaring rates of investment in renewable energy, according to the United Nations' annual "Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment" report.
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Storing wind energy in a bottle
A University of Minnesota chemical engineering professor is set to begin testing how to store wind energy in large-scale chemical batteries.
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DOE awards $126.6 million for two large-scale carbon sequestration projects
The new projects will demonstrate the entire CO2 injection process — pre-injection characterization, injection process monitoring, and post-injection monitoring.
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Sen. Domenici introduces new coal-to-liquids bill
The bill, S. 2958, mandates that 6 billion gallons of CTL fuels be produced by 2022.
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Race to algae-based biodiesel heats up
Can the lowly algae ease a growing food-versus-fuel debate? A growing number of start-ups are betting against the dominant biofuel crops - corn and soy - and looking to sidestep the backlash against biofuels, which are being blamed in part for higher food prices and deforestation around the world.
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High food prices not going away soon: feds
The Agriculture Department's chief economist told Congress that prices for corn and other food commodities will remain at "historically high levels" in coming years as the U.S. ethanol industry expands.
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EIA releases study on impacts of Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act
The Energy Information Administration projected Lieberman-Warner would increase annual household energy bills between $30 and $325 in 2020 and $76 and $723 by 2030, without factoring transportation-related costs.
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Homeowners face fight over wind turbines
Two wind turbines stand on a bluff overlooking the Colorado River, their propellers whirling as they harvest energy from a relentless desert breeze. Jill and Larry Endline generate electricity with the turbines to power their nearby house, and they see it as a smart economic and environmental investment.
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