Tim Johnson, Cascadia Weekly, May 25, 2011

Bellingham has a big decision to shoulder. Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben is cheering us on.

Betsy Z. Russell, The Spokesman-Review, May 26, 2011

BOISE – What if giant loads of oil field equipment didn’t have to enter the United States to get from Asia to the Alberta oil sands project in Canada, and what if avoiding the U.S. actually cost less?

Robert S. Eshelman, The Nation, May 25, 2011

Kelly Mitchell’s adrenaline surged as she began her ascent up the 450-foot smoke stack at the Fisk coal-fired power plant in Chicago. Wearing a tight-fitting safety harness and loaded down with industrial climbing gear, Mitchell, along with seven other activists from Greenpeace, scaled the stack at the break of dawn on Tuesday in order to paint “Quit Coal” in bright yellow on the side of the towering structure.

by Lisa Hymas, Grist, 23 May 2011

The most prominent Republican voice for climate action is now in the (hound)doghouse. Turns out the Sperminator has been pumping more than iron.

If you're as revolted as I am, you might be tempted to toss the bum permanently overboard -- but can we afford to?

J. David Hughes, Post Carbon Institute, May 2011

San Francisco, CA (May 12) A detailed new energy report argues that the natural gas industry has propagated dangerously false claims about natural gas production supply, cost and environmental impact. The report, “Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century” is authored by leading geoscientist and Post Carbon Institute Fellow J. David Hughes.

Grist, May 11, 2011

By Floyd McKay, Crosscut.com, April 28, 2011

The first public debate on the construction of a giant coal-shipping terminal north of Bellingham made it quite clear that opposing forces are, well, like trains running on separate tracks, with increasing frustrations on all sides.

JOHN STARK, The Bellingham Herald, April 28, 2011

BELLINGHAM - More than 300 people packed Northwood Hall Wednesday, April 27, for a City Club debate of the Gateway Pacific coal and bulk cargo terminal proposed for Cherry Point, and many more were turned away for lack of space.

ABC Nightline News, April 21, 2011

Is the mining technique called fracking leading to more quakes?

SHAWN McCARTHY, Globe and Mail, Apr. 15, 2011

The U.S. State Department has rejected many of the key arguments of opponents of TransCanada Corp.’s (TRP-T40.070.380.96%) Keystone XL pipeline, setting the stage for the likely approval of the project later this year.

By John Holland and Adam Weintraub, The Associated Press, The Modesto Bee, April 12, 2011

Big hydro projects not included as renewable sources

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a bill affirming the state's goal of getting at least a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

News Release, CA Governor Brown, April 12, 2011

MILPITAS– Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. today signed SBX1 2, which requires one-third of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources. The legislation increases California’s current 20 percent renewables portfolio standard target in 2010 to a 33 percent renewables portfolio standard by December 31, 2020.

By MIKE DENNISON, Billings Gazette, April 11, 2011

HELENA — A state Senate panel on Monday voted to table a high-profile bill designed to override a court decision that has stalled construction of a northern Montana power line to transport wind energy — but it's unclear whether the measure is dead at the Legislature.

By Lou Kilzer and Andrew Conte, Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh), April 10, 2011

Drilling companies rapidly expanding their U.S. operations in places such as Pennsylvania's vast Marcellus shale formation repeatedly tout they are providing American jobs and securing the nation's energy future.

By Timothy Puko, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 5, 2011

"Most everything (LaHood) mentioned is from the administration's reauthorization bill from last year, with nothing new to address the issues brought up by all the pipeline failures that have occurred since then," said Carl Weimer, executive director of Pipeline Safety Trust

News Release, US Dept of Transportation, April 4, 2011

U.S. DOT Initiates National Effort to Prevent Hazardous Pipeline Incidents

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today launched a national pipeline safety initiative to repair and replace aging pipelines to prevent potentially catastrophic incidents.

Editorial, New York Times, April 2, 2011

Later this year, the State Department will decide whether to approve construction of a 1,700-mile oil pipeline from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast called Keystone XL. The underground 36-inch pipeline, built by TransCanada, would link the tar sands fields of northern Alberta to Texas refineries and begin operating in 2013. The department should say no.

By Patrick May and Dana Hull, Mercury News (Daily News, Los Angeles), March 24, 2011

After months of controversy, PG&E on Thursday unveiled an opt-out plan for its SmartMeter program that further enraged its critics, who said its high fees would punish the customers it was designed to help.

By Craig Welch, Seattle Times, March 26, 2011

Just as Washington is weaning itself off coal, two companies are pushing to make the state a leading exporter of the fossil fuel. That possibility has sparked a fierce debate: If coal is so dirty that Washington won't use it, should the state really serve as a conduit for shipping it overseas?

By BRIAN WALKER, Coeur d' Alene Press, March 24, 2011

Plan would bring oversized loads on U.S. Highway 95, I-90

COEUR d'ALENE - A proposal to transport oversized loads on U.S. Highway 95 and Interstate 90 is another step closer to becoming reality.

OUR VIEW: Stop the foot-dragging and build Keystone oil pipeline

Editors, USA Today, March 18, 2011

When oil companies wanted to build a pipeline across Alaska in 1970, critics offered a dozen reasons to say no. The hot oil in the line would melt the permafrost. The route crossed an earthquake fault and forded hundreds of streams and rivers. The huge pipe would block caribou migration. And so on.

OPPOSING VIEW: 'Expensive and unnecessary'

News Release, Walker Energy & Western Coal, March 8, 2011

Western Coal Shareholders Overwhelmingly Approve Plan of Arrangement with Walter Energy

Washington Independent, March 9, 2011

The former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental crimes section said Friday that the oil and gas company Enbridge will likely face criminal charges over its 2010 Michigan pipeline rupture.

The Associated Press, Oregon Live, March 02, 2011

ASTORIA (AP) -- The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Wednesday to throw out the license for the proposed Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas terminal near Astoria, the Daily Astorian reported.

A JOINT REPORT BY: Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, Pipeline Safety Trust, Sierra Club, February 2011
AUTHORS: Anthony Swift, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Elizabeth Shope, NRDC

Tar sands crude oil pipeline companies may be putting America’s public safety at risk.