Energy & Fuel

"For lunch on April 26, Scott Pruitt, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, dined with top executives from Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest coal-burning electric utilities, at Equinox, a white-tablecloth favorite of Washington power brokers."

"U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has asked federal regulators to attempt to keep the nation’s struggling coal and nuclear power plants open by rewarding them for contributing to the resilience of the electric grid, the Department of Energy said on Friday."

"The plan — tied into the Republican tax overhaul — assumes $1 billion in revenue, likely to come from oil leases in the pristine Alaska wilderness area."

"The technology, billed as a central pillar of the Steel City’s future, may be creating more economic anxiety than anything else."

"Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke chartered a flight from Las Vegas to near his home in Montana this summer aboard a plane owned by oil-and-gas executives, internal documents show."

"Washington state on Tuesday rejected a key permit needed for a proposed terminal to export coal to Asia, another blow to companies eager to sell Wyoming and Montana coal to Asian markets and to the Trump administration’s policy of global energy dominance."

"The Trump administration will seek to reconsider an Obama-era blueprint for protecting the greater sage grouse, a move that could lead to new mineral leasing, grazing and other commercial activities across the quirky bird’s Western habitat."

"The federal agency overseeing gas pipelines, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, issued a nine-page statement Wednesday that says it’s 'inappropriate' for the agency to try to figure out the climate change impact of the controversial Sabal Trail Pipeline."

"Environmentalists say Exxon's move demonstrates that the entire industry can stop methane emissions that are contributing to climate change."