"Federal regulators said on Thursday that they would impose hard limits on energy futures contracts held by commodity traders, part of a move to curb excessive speculation and possibly avoid a repeat of the 2008 run-up in oil prices."
After an October 2009 EPA proposal to regulate coal ash, documents show coal industry officials started meeting with OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and soon EPA announced it was postponing proposal of the coal-ash regulation.
The New York Times' Green Inc. and Wheels blogs round up news from the Detroit Auto Show. The news is all about electric vehicles. Several foreign makers may beat U.S. firms to market or undercut them on price.
"It sounded like a good idea: Provide a little government money to convert wood shavings and plant waste into renewable energy. But as laudable as that goal sounds, it could end up causing more economic damage than good."
"A terrible economy curbed energy demand throughout the Unites States in 2009, slowing coal production in Wyoming for the first time in more than a decade."
"Methane gas produced in California landfills fuels garbage and recycling trucks, reducing the state's carbon emissions."
"A coalition of oil companies, car and engine manufacturers and fuel sellers told the Obama administration on Thursday not to increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline based on inadequate test data."
A regulatory application for a major mid-Atlantic electric transmission line may be withdrawn because of flagging demand projections -- a result not only of the economic slump, but also of energy conservation.
"Interior Secretary Ken Salazar [announced] new drilling policies to protect the environment on western federal lands."
"Americans' infatuation with their cars has endured through booms and busts, but last year something rare happened in the United States: The number of automobiles actually fell."
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