Energy & Environment

Ernest Moniz will be sworn in as Energy secretary in the department’s cafeteria Tuesday, several days after winning Senate approval.

Oil-and-gas companies are concerned about reporting requirements for doing business with Burma now that the United States has established relations with the country.

Companies are lobbying the State Department on the reporting issue as the administration works to build diplomatic ties. President Obama on Monday hosted Burmese President Thein Sein at the White House in the latest sign of growing cooperation.

Oil-and gas-firms are interested in buying blocs in the resource-rich Bay of Bengal off of Burma’s western coast. Burma has offered up several plots to European Union bidders in recent auctions, and U.S. firms are also beginning to show interest.

Activist Tom Steyer said approving the Keystone pipeline would create political hurdles for Obama's second-term agenda.

Ernest Moniz will be sworn in as the next Energy Secretary on Tuesday, and a day later will go on-the-record publicly for the first time in his new role.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist, who won 97-0 Senate approval last Thursday, will have a swearing in ceremony in the Energy Department’s (DOE) cafeteria Tuesday morning that’s open to employees.

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, he will do a “town hall” event with DOE employees, and the question-and-answer event will be webcast, giving the press and other observers a chance to gauge his plans and views as secretary.

An array of groups joined forces Monday to urge congressional leaders and President Obama to approve an energy-efficiency bill that’s currently waiting for floor time in the Senate.

The Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, Alliance to Save Energy, Bipartisan Policy Center and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are seeking to build momentum for legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

Thirty-six sunken ships in U.S. waters could pose a coastal “oil pollution threat,” and about half of them should undergo further evaluation and potential efforts to retrieve the fuel, a new federal report finds.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is providing the data to the U.S. Coast Guard to help it plan, as possibly help determine the source of “mystery” oil sightings, among other uses.

“This report is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the potential oil pollution threats from shipwrecks in U.S. waters,” said Lisa Symons, resource protection coordinator for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, in a statement Monday.

The Atlantic Coast has the highest concentration of the 17 wrecks that deserve the most attention. “The distribution of vessels is skewed heavily to World War II casualties in the Battle of the Atlantic,” NOAA states in a summary.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is expanding its campaign against a proposed Alaskan mine that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says would damage a thriving sockeye salmon population.

The NRDC launched a six-figure advertising effort Monday that features Bristol Bay, Alaska, residents who oppose the proposed Pebble Mine. The green group is beginning with advertisements in publications both inside and outside the Beltway.

“We want policymakers here inside the Beltway to see the places and see the faces of people who will be severely impacted if Pebble Mine is allowed. The mine — as anybody in these ads can tell you — will be utterly devastating to this irreplaceable region, its people and its wildlife,” Bob Keefe, an NRDC spokesman, told The Hill in an email.

The House will vote Wednesday on legislation that would expedite construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline’s northern leg.

The Northern Route Approval Act, H.R. 3, is likely to pass with overwhelming GOP support. Republicans expect at least 20 Democrats to support it as well.

The bill would eliminate the need for pipeline builder TransCanada Corp. to get a cross-border permit from President Obama to complete the Canada-to-Texas project.

Bloomberg reports that natural gas futures prices rose after the Energy Department approved a U.S. export terminal.

The Associated Press reports on the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigation of how a Royal Dutch Shell offshore drilling rig ran aground in Alaska in December.

AP also has the latest on gasoline prices.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a big move within the natural gas industry’s executive ranks.

“Chesapeake Energy Corp. has plucked a 46-year-old executive from a rival oil-and-gas company to succeed its co-founder, Aubrey McClendon, as chief executive of the nation's second-largest natural-gas producer,” the paper reports.

The Boston Globe reports that a Massachusetts Institute of Technology experiment with nuclear fusion will soon shut down unless Congress steps in.

Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) said climate change has factored into recent increases in allergies, asthma and tropical diseases.