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  May 20, 2010, 3:14 pm

House Dems pressure White House to block Arctic offshore drilling

By Ben Geman

A group of House Democrats are readying new pressure on the Obama administration to block Shell Oil’s plans to conduct exploratory drilling this summer in Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast.

Reps. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) are circulating a letter that calls on President Obama to delay Shell’s plans until the causes of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are known, and the administration has put in place “improved and rigorous prevention technology requirements.”

An aide to Inslee said that nearly 80 House members had signed on as of Thursday afternoon. The letter is slated to be sent later on Thursday, the aide said.

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  May 20, 2010, 2:54 pm

Oil spill video feed live on committee webpage

By Tony Romm

Oil company BP has agreed to allow the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming to post on its website a live feed of the spill still ravaging the Gulf Coast.

The video, posted on Wednesday, arrives at the request of committee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who demanded in a strong letter this week that BP CEO Lamar McKay publish the footage online. He offered his committee's website as a possible venue, in case BP's own online resources could not handle it — an offer BP apparently took up.

“This may be BP’s footage, but it’s America’s ocean. Now anyone will be able to see the real-time effects the BP spill is having on our ocean,” the chairman said before BP released the video. “This footage will aid analysis by independent scientists blocked by BP from coming to see the spill.”

“BP is going to have to pay for the cleanup of this spill and the long-term damage. Hosting this video on our website is the only freebie they’re going to get,” the congressman added.

Viewers, however, may experience difficulty accessing both the committee's site and the new oil spill feed. Markey's staff told Hillicon Valley on Thursday that unexpectedly high traffic had seriously slowed most viewers' access to the page.

BP was leasing the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded and sank last month, devastating the coast. While BP told reporters it has captured about 210,000 gallons of oil each day, they fear some is still escaping its grasp.

(Cross posted from Hillicon Valley)

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  May 20, 2010, 2:15 pm

Massey CEO defends safety record in first Capitol Hill grilling since accident

By Jim Snyder and Ben Geman

"We never have, and we never will" place profits above safety, the Massey CEO said Thursday.

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  May 20, 2010, 12:00 pm

Dems' tax extenders deal boosts oil spill trust fund

By Ben Geman

A deal struck between House and Senate Democrats on a wide-ranging tax package would make more money available from a federal oil-spill trust fund and increase an oil industry tax that feeds the fund.

The oil deal, which embraces the thrust of a White House proposal, would raise the cap on expenditures from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund above the current $1 billion level. The fund is used for cleanup costs and damages.

A summary circulated by the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday says the bill would either increase or eliminate the $1 billion cap.

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  May 20, 2010, 10:59 am

Pelosi: Congress must move on climate

By Bob Cusack and Ben Geman

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Congress, not the Obama administration, needs to address global warming.

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  May 20, 2010, 10:25 am

House to vote on expanded powers for mine safety investigation

By Ben Geman

The House Education and Labor Committee could get new investigative powers Thursday as it probes coal mining safety in the wake of the April 5 explosion at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine that killed 29 workers.

A resolution expected on the House floor Thursday afternoon would give committee investigators authority to compel formal depositions.

A committee spokesman said the panel was granted the same powers when it investigated the fatal 2007 accident at Utah’s Crandall Canyon mine.

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  May 20, 2010, 8:18 am

E2 Round-up: Scientists blast administration for lack of info on oil spill, Coast Guard scrutinized, climate change is real and needs to be addressed

By Jim Snyder

* Scientists blast administration for what it doesn't know about oil spill

Oceanographers are criticizing the Obama administration for not pressing hard enough to investigate the scope of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill or the damage it is causing, according to The New York Times.

"They are especially concerned about getting a better handle on problems that may be occurring from large plumes of oil droplets that appear to be spreading beneath the ocean surface.

"The scientists point out that in the month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, the government has failed to make public a single test result on water from the deep ocean. And the scientists say the administration has been too reluctant to demand an accurate analysis of how many gallons of oil are flowing into the sea from the gushing oil well."

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  May 20, 2010, 8:07 am

Liberal group ad hits GOP on oil-industry ties

By Ben Geman

Over in our Blog Briefing Room, Michael O'Brien writes about a new TV ad designed to boost Senate climate legislation by highlighting GOP ties to the oil industry.

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  May 19, 2010, 6:16 pm

Senate Dems ask administration to inspect oil rigs

By Eric Zimmermann

The entire Senate Democratic leadership asked the Obama administration today to immediately inspect all offshore oil rigs.

In a letter to the President, the top five Senate Democrats asked that Barack Obama "order immediate and enhanced inspections of every offshore oil drilling rig and offshore oil production platform in United States waters that could pose a significant threat to the environment or the economy, no matter its location or depth."

They added that the "inspections should not be performed at taxpayer expense."

The senators also asked the administration to review its inspection process, since earlier inspections failed to catch the defects that led to the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Together, we can help transform what you have termed a ‘cozy’ relationship between regulators and the oil industry into one in which the American people can feel confident that their safety comes first, before the oil industry’s profits," they concluded.

The letter was signed by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Caucus Vice Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Caucus Secretary Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

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  May 19, 2010, 5:30 pm

Issa: MMS overhaul doesn’t fix ‘underlying problems’

By Ben Geman

The top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee isn’t terribly impressed with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s decision to break up the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the troubled Interior Department agency that regulates offshore drilling.

Salazar on Wednesday detailed plans that will splinter MMS into three separate agencies that deal with energy development, safety and environmental protections and revenue collections.

But Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who has long criticized MMS, said in a prepared statement that Salazar’s plan fails to resolve many core problems.

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