"Many of Pennsylvania's policymakers, regulators and enforcement workers have come from the oil and gas industry they oversee, or they leave state jobs for industry jobs, according to a recent report that questions the impacts of such a "revolving door" on public policy decisions."

"CARRIZO SPRINGS, Tex. -- In this South Texas stretch of mesquite trees and cactus, where the land is sometimes too dry to grow crops, the local aquifer is being strained in the search for oil. The reason is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling process that requires massive amounts of water."

"Tesla Motors Inc., which received $465 million in U.S. Energy Department loans to develop and build electric cars, will repay the funds five years ahead of schedule in a plan approved by the government."

"New York’s Assembly approved a two- year ban on the natural-gas drilling method known as fracking, after two previous attempts to block the practice failed and with the state Senate taking a different approach."

"AUSTIN, TEXAS — More than three decades ago, after an energy crisis that gripped the world, a Catholic priest in the Texas city of Lubbock took a stand for the environment. His congregation needed a new church. So the priest, the Rev. Joe James, anchored the building deep in the earth to optimize insulation. He also ordered five wind turbines for the church grounds. The largest was called Big Bird, because it stood 80 feet tall."

"Home satellite TV provider DISH Network Corp has signed a deal to run 200 of its trucks on propane, in the latest indication that the niche fuel could soon rival natural gas as the United States' cheap transport alternative."

"Two consulting firms provided State Department with key analysis of whether the pipeline would speed development of Canada's oil sands."

"US officials have been fighting to stop a $7.5 billion gas pipeline that would transport natural gas between Iran and Pakistan."

"Oil analysts don't expect sudden changes in Venezuela oil policies after Hugo Chavez's death. But political change in post-Chavez Venezuela could open its oil industry to much wider foreign investment."

In Fort Collins, Colorado, where the oil and gas industry is fighting a municipal ban on fracking, Coloradoan reporter Bobby Magill discovered that the state oil and gas association had forged some two-thirds of the "business" signatures on a petition to the city council.