"After years of volatility, oil prices have found a level that seems to satisfy producing nations, oil companies and major consumers. But in the wake of the economic crisis and the collapse in demand, a new reality has also set across the petroleum industry. Today’s price of around $70 a barrel is increasingly viewed as a new floor for the industry."

"The Energy Department has concluded in an internal audit that it does not properly track whether manufacturers that give their appliances an Energy Star label have met the required specifications for energy efficiency."

"More automakers are joining the trend. Nine of the top 10 vehicles in the Environmental Protection Agency's fuel economy rankings for the 2010 model year are hybrids, made by six companies."

"Oil prices reached a fresh one-year high above $75 a barrel Thursday in Asia on a weaker U.S. dollar and growing investor optimism about an economic recovery."

"Equipment manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates agreed today on new standards aimed at dramatically reducing energy use in homes."

"With 360 days a year of pure, unclouded sun, California's Imperial Valley has the potential to become the Silicon Valley of renewable energy."

"The Department of the Interior has frozen oil and gas development on 60 of 77 contested drilling sites in Utah, saying the process of leasing the land was rushed and badly flawed."

"A second-generation scarlet Sea Snake is being prepared to harness the waves of Britain's northern islands to generate electricity."

"Arab officials in the Persian Gulf strongly denied Tuesday a report that they're in secret talks to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies to price oil."

"Tax credits for making your home more energy efficient got a lot of early buzz. The promise of up to 1500-dollars back for insulation and windows or efficient furnaces led to a flurry of advertising." But something might be stopping people from taking advantage of the tax credits.

"The natural gas industry is moving to disclose information about chemicals used in controversial extraction technologies in the wake of spills at drilling sites in Pennsylvania and as New York is proposing new regulations."

"New Brunswick Power announced today that the company will close its coal-fired Grand Lake generating station when its operating license expires in June 2010."

"The Group of 20 will agree to phase out subsidies on oil and other fossil fuels in the 'medium term,' but will not set a firm timetable for the move aimed at combating global warming, a draft statement said."

"The Commerce Department unveiled the first 77 'smart grid' standards today aimed at removing a major barrier to the implementation of digital grid technologies."

"Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) yesterday backed off efforts to block EPA from weighing contested ethanol emissions after Administrator Lisa Jackson pledged that biofuels rules will reflect uncertainty around international indirect land-use change emissions."