National (U.S.)

"The Energy Department is mismanaging oversight of $34 billion in taxpayer-backed loans for green-energy and other projects, congressional auditors said Monday in a new report."

"The Government Accountability Office said it took Energy Department staff more than three months to come up with data on the status of applications for loan guarantees, leading auditors to question whether oversight of the program is timely or fair to companies seeking federal subsidies.

"The Senate on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a sweeping measure to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other protected areas to oil drilling, as well as to approve construction of the Keystone pipeline project."

"Dozens of conservation groups and nearly 100 scientists voiced opposition on Thursday to an Obama administration proposal they say would make it much harder for imperiled creatures to qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act."

The Democrat-controlled Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing today [Tuesday] which could turn the table on the House's highly politicized hearings condemning the Obama administration's administration of the Congress-passed energy loan program. Energy Sec. Steven Chu will testify.

"The White House scrambled Monday to contain the political damage from rising gas prices, which have emerged as a primary threat to President Obama’s reelection."

"The Senate [Tuesday] will likely vote on an amendment to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and to vastly expand access to domestic oil and gas resources. But unlike similar votes last week, senators this time will vote on a much broader package that includes the extension of expiring tax incentives."

Phil Taylor reports for Greenwire (subscription only) March 12, 2012.

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"Ben Kessler, a student at the University of North Texas and an environmental activist, was more than a little surprised that an FBI agent questioned his philosophy professor and acquaintances about his whereabouts and his sign-waving activities aimed at influencing local gas drilling rules."

"F. Sherwood Rowland, the Nobel prize-winning chemist who sounded the alarm on the thinning of the Earth's ozone layer, has died at 84."

Is it safe to extend the life of the aging US fleet of nuclear power plants -- even those whose obsolete designs match those of the failed reactors at Fukushima?

"Regulators on Friday told the owners of the nation's nuclear reactors to implement new safety rules based on the lessons learned from the earthquake and tsunami that crippled Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant a year ago. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it authorized its staff to issue three immediately effective orders implementing some of the more urgent recommendations."