Budget & Policy

Senate Could Vote on State Department Arms Control Nominee, Rose Gottemoeller, Next Week Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 2/28/2014 An attempt to get two top Department of Energy nominees confirmed hit a roadblock this week when an anonymous hold was placed on the pair. Senate Republicans attempted to “hotline” the nominations of Frank Klotz, the Administration’s pick […]

As preparations continue for Fiscal Year 2015 appropriations bills, New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall (D) and Martin Heinrich (D) are urging the Obama Administration to amend its budget request to respond to the incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The Department of Energy requested $220.5 million for WIPP for FY’15 but since the request […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/14/2014 The White House Office of Management and Budget has blocked funding from being used at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for thermal testing of disposal of high-level waste in salt, officials said this week. The Fiscal Year 2014 omnibus spending bill enacted last month included $18 million in funding for […]

In the wake of two incidents that have resulted in the ongoing shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Senate Armed Services Committee is looking to have the Government Accountability Office review operations at the facility. The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act would direct the GAO to “review […]

Tomorrow will mark the 25th anniversary of a federal raid on the Rocky Flats site, seen by many as the symbolic start to the Department of Energy’s cleanup program. Agents from the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency entered the site to investigate alleged environmental violations. Rockwell International, the operator of the site at the […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 4/11/2014 The National Energy Technology Laboratory is seeking partners for one or more applications to the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in response to a recent funding opportunity announcement on low temperature geothermal mineral recovery. “The NETL is seeking project partners that can contribute technical experience, […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 4/11/2014 The Department of Energy and Tampa Electric Company this week marked the startup of a pilot project to demonstrate a warm gas cleanup carbon capture technology in a coal gasification unit at the Polk Power Plant Unit-1 in Tampa, Fla. The project, which DOE said came in approximately $3 million […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 4/11/2014 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy was again pressed on the commercial viability of carbon capture and storage technology at an April 9 hearing before the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee on EPA’s FY 2015 budget request, with Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) suggesting that EPA regulations for new power […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 4/11/2014 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy this week emphasized flexibility and a willingness to work with individual states when it comes to the agency’s upcoming carbon emission regulations for existing power plants, though she made it clear that such leeway would have limits. “The challenge that you’ve given to us […]

New Under Sec. For Mgmt. Among Those Approved Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/17/2014 Elizabeth Robinson’s nomination to fill the Department of Energy’s new position of Under Secretary for Management and Performance took another step forward this week, though it still remains to be seen when she will be approved by the full Senate and ultimately […]

GOP Fends Off Major Cut to NNSA Weapons Program Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/23/2014 Wrapping up its work on the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act this week, the Republican-led House turned away an attempt to strip $100 million in authorized funding from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program and adopted language that […]

House Approves Version This Week With No Funding Increase for Project Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/23/2014  The beleaguered Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project would see a significant boost in authorized funding for Fiscal Year 2015 under the Senate version of the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act, reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/23/2014 Senate appropriators will have a little more breathing room to dole out money for the National Nuclear Security Administration in Fiscal Year 2015, according to the subcommittee allocations the Senate Appropriations Committee approved this week. The panel’s Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee will have $34.208 billion to divide up among […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 1/10/2014 Congressional appropriators have largely wrapped up work on the Energy and Water portion of a planned omnibus spending bill for the remainder of the fiscal year, but there is growing sentiment among Capitol Hill aides that a short-term Continuing Resolution will be necessary to give lawmakers time to iron out […]

Committees Expected to Move Quickly on Already Cleared Noms, but Senate Floor Action Unclear Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 1/10/2014 The Obama Administration this week returned dozens of nominations to the Senate, including a handful of Department of Energy selections, and Senate committees began acting quickly to report out the nominations, with the Senate Armed Services Committee […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/30/2014 Texas-based Skyonic Corp. will receive $12.5 million in funding from ConocoPhillips and Enbridge Inc. to help develop its SkyCycle carbon capture technology through an arrangement announced this week. The SkyCycle process, developers say, has the potential to drastically reduce the cost of carbon capture as well as create saleable […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/30/2014 Of four scenarios modeled by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) in its recently released analysis exploring the impact of greenhouse gas regulation, those which featured a price on emissions yielded the most significant reductions of greenhouse gases. As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepares to release its performance standards […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/30/2014 With the Environmental Protection Agency set to announce early next week new emissions guidelines for existing coal-fired power plants,  a set of interest groups have released conflicting reports as to what effect these and similar EPA guidelines for new-build coal plants may have on the economy, citizens’ pocketbooks and […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/30/2014 The state of New Jersey announced late last week, plans to submit an official proposal to repeal regulations relevant to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as required by the judgment of a state appeals court. The court ruled earlier this year that Governor Chris Christie’s (R-N.J.) administration broke […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Senate appropriators will have a little more breathing room to dole out money for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in Fiscal Year 2015, according to the subcommittee allocations the Senate Appropriations Committee approved this week. The panel’s Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee will have $34.208 billion to […]

House Approved Defense Policy Measure This Week Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) was successful in adding a small boost to cleanup funding in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act before the full House approved the bill late this week. An amendment offered by Hastings  to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/23/2014 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz this week stressed the need to reduce the cost of carbon reduction technologies to allow an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy to move forward. “Given our absolute commitment to looking for lower carbon options, we are continuing to drive cost reduction in technologies […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/23/2014 Carbon pricing is more efficient, economically sound and common than many believe, a panel of experts said this week at an event hosted in Washington by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). “We’re already paying a price—we already see a cost of the greenhouse gas fueling climate […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/23/2014 As the Environmental Protection Agency gears up to release the much anticipated performance standards for existing power plants and wades through comments for its proposed new source performance standards (NSPS), the rhetoric from both supporters and opponents of the actions are reaching a fever pitch. The existing source performance […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/23/2014 As the Environmental Protection Agency works to finalize new emissions standards for existing power plants, the American Public Power Association released a study this week that suggests a unified market-based approach in the form of a price on emissions may be more effective. “The guidelines to be issued in […]

A series of mishaps involving the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Roof Asset Management Project (RAMP) drew concern from the Office of Enforcement within the Department of Energy’s Office of Independent Enterprise Assessments, but DOE took a pass on fining the contractors involved. Despite noting that five incidents over the course of a four-year span resulted—or […]

Language in the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee last week would require the National Nuclear Security Administration to come up with cost estimates for life extension programs and major construction projects when projects are in the concept definition phase of development. The provision, which would align […]

The Republican-led House turned away an attempt to strip $100 million in authorized funding from the weapons program as debate on the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act ramped up yesterday while stripping language from the bill that would’ve put an end date of 2021 on a requirement to keep ICBM silos in warm […]

House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) handily won yesterday the Republican primary for the Idaho House 2nd District, an election that had gained national attention due to a strong challenge by the Tea Party. Pundits had declared the race “ground zero” for the ideological battle between the establishment of the […]