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Senate confirms Obama pick to lead agency in a close call
It was a tale of two votes as the Senate narrowly voted to confirm Norman Bay to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission while fellow nominee Cheryl LaFleur was approved by a strong majority to serve another five-year term. The Senate voted 52-45 to confirm Bay, who is currently FERC’s chief enforcement officer. He is the White House choice to lead the agency but will need to wait nine months to ascend to the chairman’s spot under a deal made with some of his critics to answer concerns about his inexperience in energy policy. [ read more … ]
Obama denied Chinese developers due process by blocking project — appeals court
Chinese owners seeking to build wind farms near a naval facility in Oregon were denied their due process rights when President Obama blocked the project on national security grounds without providing adequate evidence for his decision, a federal appeals court ruled today. [ read more … ]
EPA’s McCarthy pushes states to adopt carbon-cutting ‘investment strategy’
“Our energy world is changing, and really the key opportunity here is to embrace a direction that’s good and available and reliable and responsible and affordable for each state,” McCarthy said, “and to figure out how you can achieve these carbon pollution reductions in a way that’s moving in that same direction.” Her comments yesterday before the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or NARUC, were brief — less than 30 minutes, including questions. But in what at times came across as barnstorming in the oil industry’s backyard, McCarthy described the thinking behind EPA’s plan to slash carbon emissions at power plants. Then President Obama’s top environmental regulator pressed for action by the states, as regulators consider the approach they’ll take to meet federal emissions targets. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.