Regulators Approve First Offshore Wind Farm in U.S.

By GottaLaff

Click to enlarge:


Some good news via a New York Times e-mail alert:

After nine years of regulatory review, the federal government gave the green light Wednesday to the nation's first offshore wind farm, a sprawling project off the coast of Cape Cod.

The approval of the 130-turbine farm gives a significant boost to the nascent offshore wind industry in the United States, which has lagged behind far Europe and China in harnessing the strong and steady power of ocean breezes to provide electricity to homes and businesses.

Clean, green energy. Someone is keeping his campaign promises.

“I am approving the Cape Wind project,” Mr. Salazar said. “This will be the first of many projects up and down the Atlantic coast.”

That was the good news. The bad news? It's not "shovel ready" and there are opponents who will do all they can to stall it for years. Even some environmentalists.

Either way, it sure beats "drill, baby, drill."

No drill for you! Few Bush-era energy leases are valid

By GottaLaff

Undoing the ugly, toxic BushCo stain:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday that only 17 of 77 oil and gas leases on Utah public lands that the Bush administration auctioned off in December were valid and that his agency would prevent development on the remaining parcels, at least in the near future. [...]

Environmentalists contended that the auction of drilling rights on 100,000 acres of federal land in southeastern Utah were a last-minute giveaway to the energy industry. The environmentalists won a restraining order from a federal judge halting the sales.

Salazar revoked most of the leases upon entering office and said his staff would study which were appropriate. On Thursday, he said the review found that few were.

"There was a headlong rush to leasing in the prior administration," Salazar said. "There were areas that should not have been leased." [...]

Energy groups said the findings continued a troubling trend -- a hesitancy in the Obama administration to foster American energy sources. Salazar has also reversed a Bush administration effort to open swathes of Western land to oil shale development. [...]

Environmental groups hailed the report's findings but cautioned that even if the Obama administration wanted to rebid the 17 leases it found appropriate, it would need to follow procedures laid down by the federal judge.

"The report is a resounding rejection of the 'drill here, drill now' approach of the Bush administration," said Steve Bloch of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

But remember: President Obama has no real accomplishments to speak of. Nope. None.

A "very ticked-off" Harry Reid Uses Franken as Threat

By GottaLaff

A follow-up of sorts to my previous post, just below. Reid should do the same for Dawn Johnsen's nomination:

A "very ticked-off" Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) predicted that the nominee for the Interior Department's number two post "will be approved despite the lockstep opposition" of Senate Republicans, reports Politico.

Said Reid: "We will confirm David Hayes. If I have to wait until Al Franken comes, we will confirm David Hayes."

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was equally ticked off after a vote on the Hayes nomination failed, according to NBC News.

Said Salazar: "This was a tired vote of bitter obstructionism. It may be uncomfortable for some to watch us have to clean up mess after mess -- from corruption to lawbreaking -- that is the previous administration's legacy at Interior, but to cast a vote against such a qualified and fine person is the height of cynicism."

Let's play Captionary: Sarah Palin/Secretary Salazar edition

By GottaLaff

Disturbing? Oh, just a tad:

"You had me at 'drill, baby, drill.'"

H/t: Mudflats

Undoing BushCo: Buh-bye drill, baby, drill edition

By GottaLaff

First Secretary Ken canceled leases to drill in Utah. Now this good news story:

US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday moved away from "drill-only" energy policies as he blocked a last-minute attempt by the administration of George W. Bush to push through the sale of offshore leases to gas and oil companies.

"On January 16, the last business day of the Bush administration, the administration proposed a new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing," Salazar told a news conference.

What Salazar called a "midnight action" by the previous administration favored big oil while ignoring developers of renewable energy. [...]

Salazar also decried the previous administration's decision to give the public just six weeks to comment on the proposal.

"It was a process rigged to force hurried decisions based on bad information ... a process tilted toward the usual energy players while renewable energy companies and the interests of American consumers and taxpayers were being overlooked," Salazar said.

"We need to set aside the Bush administration's midnight timetable for the plan," he said, ordering a six-month extension for the public hearings, putting the deadline back from March to September.

The administration of President Barack Obama, who has pledged to make government transparent and inclusive, would hold meetings in the four regions affected by the offshore lease proposal, Salazar said.

And the new interior secretary has commissioned a report from the US Geological Survey and the Minerals Management Survey (MMS) which would "assemble all the information we have about offshore resources, conventional and renewable."

Salazar's promises to change the way the United States forges its energy policies followed on from action he took last week to block the sale of exploration contracts to gas companies on wilderness land in Utah.

At least it's a step away from the onslaught of those last minute ugly Bush stains. Let's remember these welcome departures from BushCo's destructive policies when we stress over some of the ObamAdministration decisions that disappoint us.

White House Press Corp briefing: Interior Secretary Salazar edition

By GottaLaff

My patented, award-winning, internationally acclaimed quick notes:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is answering questions at the White House daily briefing session. The offshore drilling expansion, he says,will have to fit with Obama's overall plan.

Re: Bush's executive orders about drilling on federal lands: There are a lot of midnight hour Bush regulations, and they're "on the table and we're looking at them." Some will be kept in place, some won't. It's only been a week. But as for the drilling approach, it has to be done with the right kind of balance, and fit with the plan.

Re: Corruption in the department: There were 3 investigations by the Inspector General. Two dealt with gifts, sex, drugs taking place in government buildings. Tomorrow there will be announcements about those.

Robert Gibbs is up. President Obama is going to Canada on Feb. 19. Questions:
Pentagon meeting today: Obama will speak with all the commanders to get their perspective. The SOFA puts an end date in Iraq. It's no longer "whether", but "how and when", but Obama wants to protect the troops. Today they will discuss Afghanistan. Our forces are stretched too thin. Obama will speak soon about all of this.

Afghanistan: The policy review isn't completed yet. Longterm development in Afghanistan and in the region is being discussed.

I'll update more when I can.

Ethics in government, Ed Henry: Geithner is from Goldman Sachs. Doesn't that punch a hole in what Obama signed?

Gibbs: Ethics and transparency executive orders that were signed the first day institute a policy unlike any other in any administration in the history of our country. But no policy is going to be perfect, as Obama said. Obama didn't take money from lobbyists or PACS... not perfect, but a step in the right direction. There are good public servants who, via stringent ethics requirements, will be part of this government. We have the toughest policies in the history of U.S.

Ed Henry: But there are waivers.

Gibbs: Let's caution.. look at how many waivers we have. The policy we have is the strongest ever. That speaks for itself. It makes sense, think tanks have said, to have a limited number of waivers.

Ed Henry: Mitchell... How can he go to the mideast?

Gibbs: Let's not misconstrue. Is he a lobbyist?

Ed: Not a registered lobbyist. This firm is making money...

Gibbs: To lobby the federal gov't. you have to be registered. [now another reporter is pushing this. Gibbs is repeating his answers] Bottom line: We have the strongest policy in history of the country.

Tax cuts, economy: Let's focus on the spending that will put people back to work, not on the tiny percentage of programs.... [sorry, missed the rest... now he's talking about unemployment numbers] Let's look at the [bigger picture]. It's like trying to guess the score after the 3rd inning. CEOs today said we can't afford to wait. Focus on this bill, moving the economy forward, money will be spent in the first 18 mos., jobs will be created, reregulation...

Chip Reid: Obama was well-received, he talks more like a R than a D, as they said. But he's had no effect on the number of votes.

Gibbs: This is a many-day process. There will be votes tonight, next week, weeks after that. We will have a bipartisan proposal to get the economy moving again. Let's not stop after the 3rd inning. It's a long process. The three or so hours, Obama feels, were well-spent yesterday. It was not a p.r. stunt, the quotes are, it was sincere. And they're right. Listening is important as we focus on the many pieces of legislation...

Chip: Cocktail party tonight, what's the genesis of that idea? The number of guests is split equally among Rs and Dems. Is that how it will be?

Gibbs: He accepted the offer to come to Capitol Hill yesterday. As for the ratios of tonight, I don't know. We have an equal number of leaders. He looks forward to establishing a strong working rel'ship with them. He understands that both he and Congress will be judged by what they do for the American people.

Chuck Todd: TARP is hundreds of billions short.

Gibbs: I didn't see that report before I came out here. Obama's considering a series of proposals. He spoke to Volker today about financial re-regulation. The CBO said without stimulus, the recession will be the largest since the Great Depression [paraphrased, hopefully accurately].... One aspect of the plan alone will not address the crisis. Each of the legs needs to be addressed. There is agreement in Congress about that, that we have to work together.